Feeding and discharging method of pneumatic suction cup assembly

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of feeding and discharging methods of pneumatic suction cup assemblies, system initialization is carried out, material grabbing parameters are input through a man-machine interaction interface of a control system, and the material grabbing parameters at least comprise a grabbing pressure threshold value, a moving speed, a lifting height and material placement coordinates; meanwhile, the control system carries out self-inspection on the movable driving mechanism, the lifting mechanism and the pneumatic suction cup assembly, and enters a standby state after it is confirmed that the states of all components are normal; a to-be-grabbed material is placed on a positioning structure of a material positioning table, actual position information of the material on the positioning structure is obtained through a visual detection assembly and transmitted to a control system, the control system compares the actual position information with preset positioning coordinates and judges whether a deviation value is within an allowable range or not, and if the deviation value exceeds the allowable range, a position correction instruction is generated; the feeding and discharging method of the pneumatic suction cup assembly is convenient to use.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the technical field of loading and unloading methods for pneumatic suction cup assemblies, and in particular to a loading and unloading method for pneumatic suction cup assemblies. Background Technology

[0002] In the process of automation upgrading in the manufacturing industry, material handling is a critical link in the production line, and its operational efficiency, accuracy, and safety directly affect the overall production efficiency. Currently, the mainstream material handling methods in the industry mainly include manual operation, traditional mechanical transmission, and simple pneumatic adsorption. However, in practical applications, these methods all have significant technical limitations and cannot meet the demands of modern production requiring high precision, high capacity, and high safety, as detailed below:

[0003] I. Limitations of manual loading and unloading methods

[0004] Manual loading and unloading was a common method in early manufacturing and small-to-medium-scale production. It relied on operators manually moving materials from the storage station to the feed inlet of processing equipment (such as CNC machine tools or injection molding machines), and then moving the finished products to the unloading station after processing. This method has the following core problems:

[0005] Low operational efficiency and inability to meet high production capacity demands: Manual material handling is limited by physical strength and movement speed, with a single loading / unloading cycle typically lasting 120-180 seconds. Furthermore, operators require regular rest, making 24-hour continuous operation impossible. With increasing manufacturing capacity (e.g., automotive parts production lines requiring a cycle time of ≤60 seconds / piece), manual loading / unloading has become an "efficiency bottleneck" for production lines, resulting in equipment utilization rates below 50% (processing equipment frequently stops due to waiting for materials).

[0006] Poor work accuracy and high material loss rate: When placing materials manually, the position is determined by vision and touch. The positioning deviation is often ±2-5mm. For precision parts (such as electronic component pins and precision gears of automobile engines), the positioning deviation can easily cause the material to collide with the equipment fixture, resulting in surface scratches, deformation or even scrap. The material loss rate is generally 3%-5%, which increases production costs.

[0007] High labor costs and safety hazards exist: a single production line requires 1-2 dedicated loading and unloading personnel. Based on the average labor cost in the manufacturing industry (monthly salary of 5,000-8,000 yuan), the annual labor cost can reach 60,000-100,000 yuan per machine. At the same time, operators need to frequently travel between the material storage area and the processing equipment. If the equipment does not have adequate safety protection, accidents such as limbs being pinched by the equipment or being injured by falling materials are likely to occur. The industry's average annual accident rate for manual operation is about 0.3%. Those skilled in the art provide a method for loading and unloading pneumatic suction cup components to solve the problems mentioned in the background art. Summary of the Invention

[0008] To address the problems mentioned in the background art, this application provides a method for loading and unloading pneumatic suction cup assemblies.

[0009] The method for loading and unloading a pneumatic suction cup assembly provided in this application adopts the following technical solution:

[0010] A method for loading and unloading a pneumatic suction cup assembly includes the following steps:

[0011] S1: System initialization. Input material grabbing parameters through the human-machine interface of the control system. The material grabbing parameters include at least the grabbing pressure threshold, moving speed, lifting height and material placement coordinates. At the same time, the control system performs self-checks on the moving drive mechanism, lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly. After confirming that each component is in normal condition, it enters standby mode.

[0012] S2: Place the material to be grabbed on the positioning structure of the material positioning table, obtain the actual position information of the material on the positioning structure through the vision detection component and transmit it to the control system. The control system compares the actual position information with the preset positioning coordinates and determines whether the deviation value is within the allowable range. If it exceeds the allowable range, a position correction command is generated.

[0013] S3: The control system controls the moving drive mechanism to move along the guide rail of the support frame according to the preset positioning coordinates or the corrected coordinates, and drives the lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly to move to the preset position directly above the material positioning platform. During the movement, the position of the moving drive mechanism is fed back in real time through the position detection component to achieve accurate positioning.

[0014] S4: The control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to descend vertically. When the suction cup body of the pneumatic suction cup assembly contacts the material and the contact pressure detected by the pressure sensor reaches the gripping pressure threshold, the lifting mechanism stops descending. Then, the control system controls the vacuum generator of the pneumatic suction cup assembly to start, so that the suction cup body generates negative pressure to adsorb the material.

[0015] S5: After the material is adsorbed, the lifting mechanism drives the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to rise to the preset safe height. The control system then controls the moving drive mechanism to move the lifting mechanism and the pneumatic suction cup assembly to the preset position directly above the material placement station.

[0016] S6: The control system controls the lifting mechanism to lower the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to the preset placement height, then controls the vacuum generator to stop working, the negative pressure on the suction cup body disappears, the material is placed at the placement station, and then the lifting mechanism drives the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise to the safe height.

[0017] S7: The control system controls the moving drive mechanism to drive the lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly back to the initial standby position, completing one loading and unloading cycle. If continuous operation is required, repeat steps S2-S6.

[0018] Preferably, in step S1, if the control system detects an abnormality in a component during self-testing, it issues an alarm prompt through the human-machine interface, and the alarm prompt includes the specific location of the abnormal component and the type of abnormality. At the same time, the control system locks the operation function until the abnormality is eliminated and the self-test passes again.

[0019] Preferably, in step S2, the vision inspection component includes an industrial camera and a light source. When acquiring the actual position information of the material, the light source is first turned on to provide a detection light source for the industrial camera. The industrial camera takes at least three material images from different angles. The control system performs fusion processing on the multiple images to determine the actual position information of the material.

[0020] Preferably, in step S3, the position detection component includes multiple photoelectric sensors spaced apart along the extension direction of the guide rail. When the moving drive mechanism triggers two adjacent photoelectric sensors, the control system calculates the real-time position of the moving drive mechanism based on the distance between the two photoelectric sensors and the moving speed of the moving drive mechanism, thereby achieving millimeter-level positioning accuracy.

[0021] Preferably, in step S4, after the vacuum generator is started, the control system monitors the negative pressure value of the suction cup body in real time through the pressure sensor of the pneumatic control unit. If the negative pressure value is lower than the preset negative pressure threshold, the control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise, and at the same time issues a negative pressure insufficient alarm and re-executes the adsorption operation of step S4.

[0022] Preferably, in step S5, after the lifting mechanism raises the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to a safe height, the control system delays for 1-3 seconds before controlling the movement drive mechanism to start. During the delay, the negative pressure value of the suction cup body is continuously monitored to ensure that the material does not fall off.

[0023] Preferably, in step S6, after the material is placed at the placement station, before the control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise, the visual detection component takes an image of the material at the placement station to confirm that the material placement posture meets the preset requirements. If it does not meet the requirements, an abnormal posture alarm is issued.

[0024] Preferably, in step S7, when continuous operation is achieved, the control system determines whether there is a new material to be grabbed based on the material detection sensor signal of the material positioning table. If a new material is detected, step S2 is automatically started. If no material is detected, the control system enters a sleep state. During the sleep period, a component self-check is performed every 5-10 minutes.

[0025] Preferably, in step S4, during the process of the lifting mechanism driving the pneumatic suction cup assembly to descend, the descent speed is controlled in two stages. The first stage descent speed is 50-100 mm / s. When the suction cup body is 50-100 mm away from the material surface, the speed is switched to the second stage descent speed of 10-30 mm / s until the suction cup body contacts the material.

[0026] Preferably, it also includes an emergency handling step. When the control system receives an emergency stop signal or detects an abnormal parameter that exceeds the safe range in any step, it immediately controls the moving drive mechanism to stop moving and the lifting mechanism to stop operating. At the same time, it controls the vacuum generator to maintain a negative pressure state to prevent material from falling off. After the fault is cleared, depending on the step position when the abnormality occurred, it can choose to re-execute the current step or restart from step S1.

[0027] In summary, this application includes the following beneficial technical effects: through the "fast movement + slow stop" movement control logic (such as slowing down to 30-50mm / s when approaching the target position in step S3), two-stage lifting speed adjustment (rapid descent at a long distance and slow descent at a close distance in step S4), and an automated parameter detection and feedback mechanism, the time of a single loading and unloading cycle is controlled within 30-60 seconds. Compared with traditional manual loading and unloading (an average of 120-180 seconds per cycle), the efficiency is improved by more than 50%, which can meet the continuous operation requirements of high-capacity production lines.

[0028] Reduced manual intervention: From automatic parameter verification during system initialization (S1) to automatic visual calibration for material positioning (S2), automatic negative pressure monitoring for gripping (S4), and automatic posture confirmation for placement (S6), the entire process only requires manual input of parameters and replenishment of materials in the initial stage. There is no need for real-time monitoring and adjustment. A single device can reduce 1-2 operators, significantly reducing long-term labor costs, while avoiding fatigue errors caused by manual operation (such as deviations of ±2-5mm when manually placing materials).

[0029] High-precision operation is achieved through a triple precision control design: First, in step S2, the vision inspection component captures images from three angles and fuses them to control the material positioning deviation to ≤±0.3mm; Second, in step S3, photoelectric sensors are arranged at intervals of 10-20mm, and the real-time position is calculated using an interpolation algorithm, with a movement positioning error of ≤±0.5mm; Third, in step S6, the posture is confirmed again by vision inspection after placement, with a deviation of ≤±0.5mm. Compared to traditional mechanical positioning methods (which often have errors of ±1-2mm), the accuracy is improved by more than 60%, making it suitable for the loading and unloading needs of precision parts (such as electronic components and automotive precision parts), and avoiding material collision damage caused by positioning deviations.

[0030] Flexible gripping to protect materials: In step S4, the gripping pressure is set according to the material differences (15-20N for metal parts, 5-10N for plastic parts), and the contact pressure is monitored in real time by a pressure sensor. When the pressure reaches the threshold, the descent stops immediately to avoid material deformation caused by hard contact (such as crushing of plastic parts or scratches on the surface of metal parts). At the same time, the negative pressure value is stably controlled between -0.06 and -0.08 MPa, which ensures the adsorption firmness (preventing the material from falling off and breaking) and prevents thin materials (such as 0.1-0.5mm metal sheets) from collapsing and being damaged due to excessive negative pressure. The material loss rate can be reduced from 3%-5% in traditional methods to below 0.1%.

[0031] Establish a safety protection system of "real-time monitoring - automatic early warning - emergency response": First, self-checking in step S1, negative pressure monitoring in step S4, and negative pressure fluctuation monitoring during the delay period in step S5 can identify component failures in advance (such as motor overload or air pipe leakage), and accurately indicate the location and type of abnormality through the human-machine interface to prevent the failure from escalating; Second, when any step triggers an emergency stop, the system immediately locks the movement and lifting actions, while maintaining negative pressure on the suction cup to prevent materials from falling (such as falling metal parts that may injure equipment or personnel), thus eliminating safety accidents; Third, regular self-checking during the sleep period in step S7 ensures that the equipment is always in a usable state and reduces the risk of sudden shutdown.

[0032] Stable operation guaranteed: By standardizing parameters and regulating processes, operational fluctuations are reduced. For example, in step S4, the negative pressure needs to stabilize for 1 second after generation before adsorption is considered successful, avoiding subsequent detachment due to insufficient sealing despite instantaneous negative pressure. In step S5, the transfer is delayed by 1-3 seconds to provide a buffer time for confirming the material's adsorption status. In practical applications, the failure rate of the equipment during continuous 24-hour operation can be controlled below 0.5%, far lower than that of traditional manually assisted equipment (which often has a failure rate of 5%-8%), ensuring stable operation of the production line. Attached Figure Description

[0033] Figure 1 This is an overall structural block diagram of a pneumatic suction cup assembly loading and unloading method according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0034] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] The illustrative embodiments and descriptions of the present invention are provided herein to explain the invention, but are not intended to limit the invention.

[0036] In this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0037] It should be understood that the terms "comprising / including," "consisting of," or any other variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a product, apparatus, process, or method that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but may also include, where necessary, other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a product, apparatus, process, or method. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrases "comprising / including," "consisting of," does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the product, apparatus, process, or method that includes said element.

[0038] It should also be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "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 the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device, component or structure referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed or operated in a specific orientation, and should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

[0039] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this invention, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0040] like Figure 1 As shown, a method for loading and unloading a pneumatic suction cup assembly includes the following steps:

[0041] S1: System initialization. Input material grabbing parameters through the human-machine interface of the control system. The material grabbing parameters include at least the grabbing pressure threshold, moving speed, lifting height and material placement coordinates. At the same time, the control system performs self-checks on the moving drive mechanism, lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly. After confirming that the status of each component is normal, it enters the standby state.

[0042] S2: Place the material to be grabbed on the positioning structure of the material positioning table, obtain the actual position information of the material on the positioning structure through the vision detection component and transmit it to the control system. The control system compares the actual position information with the preset positioning coordinates and determines whether the deviation value is within the allowable range. If it exceeds the allowable range, a position correction command is generated.

[0043] S3: The control system controls the moving drive mechanism to move along the guide rail of the support frame according to the preset positioning coordinates or the corrected coordinates, and drives the lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly to move to the preset position directly above the material positioning platform. During the movement, the position of the moving drive mechanism is fed back in real time through the position detection component to achieve accurate positioning.

[0044] S4: The control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to descend vertically. When the suction cup body of the pneumatic suction cup assembly contacts the material and the contact pressure detected by the pressure sensor reaches the gripping pressure threshold, the lifting mechanism stops descending. Then, the control system controls the vacuum generator of the pneumatic suction cup assembly to start, so that the suction cup body generates negative pressure to adsorb the material.

[0045] S5: After the material is adsorbed, the lifting mechanism drives the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to rise to the preset safe height. The control system then controls the moving drive mechanism to move the lifting mechanism and the pneumatic suction cup assembly to the preset position directly above the material placement station.

[0046] S6: The control system controls the lifting mechanism to lower the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to the preset placement height, then controls the vacuum generator to stop working, the negative pressure on the suction cup body disappears, the material is placed at the placement station, and then the lifting mechanism drives the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise to the safe height.

[0047] S7: The control system controls the moving drive mechanism to drive the lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly back to the initial standby position, completing one loading and unloading cycle. If continuous operation is required, repeat steps S2-S6.

[0048] In this embodiment, in step S1, if the control system detects an abnormality in a component during self-testing, it issues an alarm prompt through the human-machine interface. The alarm prompt includes the specific location of the abnormal component and the type of abnormality. At the same time, the control system locks the operation function until the abnormality is eliminated and the self-test passes again.

[0049] In this embodiment, in step S2, the vision inspection component includes an industrial camera and a light source. When acquiring the actual position information of the material, the light source is first turned on to provide a detection light source for the industrial camera. The industrial camera takes at least three material images from different angles. The control system performs fusion processing on the multiple images to determine the actual position information of the material.

[0050] In this embodiment, in step S3, the position detection component includes multiple photoelectric sensors spaced apart along the extension direction of the guide rail. When the moving drive mechanism triggers two adjacent photoelectric sensors, the control system calculates the real-time position of the moving drive mechanism based on the distance between the two photoelectric sensors and the moving speed of the moving drive mechanism, thereby achieving millimeter-level positioning accuracy.

[0051] In this embodiment, in step S4, after the vacuum generator is started, the control system monitors the negative pressure value of the suction cup body in real time through the pressure sensor of the pneumatic control unit. If the negative pressure value is lower than the preset negative pressure threshold, the control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise, and at the same time issues a negative pressure insufficient alarm and re-executes the adsorption operation of step S4.

[0052] In this embodiment, in step S5, after the lifting mechanism drives the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to a safe height, the control system delays for 1-3 seconds before controlling the movement drive mechanism to start. During the delay, the negative pressure value of the suction cup body is continuously monitored to ensure that the material does not fall off.

[0053] In this embodiment, in step S6, after the material is placed at the placement station, before the control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise, the visual detection component takes an image of the material at the placement station to confirm that the material placement posture meets the preset requirements. If it does not meet the requirements, an abnormal posture alarm is issued.

[0054] In this embodiment, in step S7, when continuous operation is achieved, the control system determines whether there is a new material to be grabbed based on the material detection sensor signal of the material positioning table. If a new material is detected, step S2 is automatically started. If no material is detected, the control system enters a sleep state. During the sleep period, a component self-check is performed every 5-10 minutes.

[0055] In this embodiment, during step S4, the descent speed of the pneumatic suction cup assembly driven by the lifting mechanism is controlled in two stages. The first stage descent speed is 50-100 mm / s. When the suction cup body is 50-100 mm away from the material surface, the descent speed is switched to the second stage descent speed of 10-30 mm / s until the suction cup body contacts the material.

[0056] In this embodiment, an emergency handling step is also included. When the control system receives an emergency stop signal or detects an abnormal parameter that exceeds the safe range in any step, it immediately controls the moving drive mechanism to stop moving and the lifting mechanism to stop operating. At the same time, it controls the vacuum generator to maintain a negative pressure state to prevent material from falling off. After the fault is cleared, depending on the step position when the abnormality occurred, it can choose to re-execute the current step or restart from step S1.

[0057] The implementation principle of the pneumatic suction cup assembly loading and unloading method in this application embodiment is as follows: The operator inputs material gripping parameters through the human-machine interface (such as a touch screen) of the control system, specifically including: gripping pressure threshold: set according to the material material, 15-20N for hard metal materials, 5-10N for soft plastic materials, with the error controlled within ±1N; moving speed: the unloaded moving speed is set to 100-150mm / s, and the loaded moving speed is set to 50-100mm / s to avoid material shaking caused by high-speed movement; lifting height: including gripping descent height (distance from the material positioning table surface, set to 50-150mm), safety height (≥100mm above the highest point of the material and surrounding components), and placement descent height (distance from the placement station surface). Surface distance (set to 5-20mm); Material placement coordinates: with a fixed point on the support frame as the origin, input the X and Y axis coordinates of the placement station, with accuracy retained to one decimal place (mm). The control system sends a test command to the moving drive mechanism, driving the slider to move back and forth along the guide rail 50mm, and detects the servo motor operating noise (≤65dB) and the smoothness of the ball screw transmission (no jamming); sends a lifting test command to the lifting mechanism, driving the unloaded suction cup assembly to lift and lower 3 times, and detects the stability of the lifting speed (fluctuation ≤±5mm / s) and the timeliness of the limit switch response; sends a negative pressure test command to the pneumatic suction cup assembly, and after the vacuum generator starts for 3 seconds, detects whether the negative pressure value of the suction cup body reaches above -0.06MPa, and whether there is any air leakage in the air pipe (pressure). The pressure drop is ≤0.01MPa / 10 seconds. During the self-test, the status signals of each component are fed back to the control system in real time. If any abnormality occurs (such as motor failure or insufficient negative pressure), the human-machine interface will immediately display the abnormal component (such as "servo motor M1 failure") and the type of abnormality (such as "overload" or "open circuit"). At the same time, the control system will lock all operating functions, retaining only the permissions for parameter modification and fault reset. After the operator troubleshoots the fault, the self-test process will be repeated until all components are in normal condition. The operator will then place the material to be grasped smoothly into the positioning groove (or positioning block) of the material positioning table, ensuring that the material fits the positioning structure ≥95% and there is no skew or offset (preliminary visual inspection deviation ≤2mm). Avoid oil stains or impurities on the material surface that may affect adsorption. The control system triggers the vision detection component, first turning on the ring light source (brightness adjusted to 500-800 lux to avoid strong light reflection or insufficient light causing image blurring), and then controlling the industrial camera (resolution ≥ 2 million pixels) to capture material images from three different angles (directly above, 45° to the left, and 45° to the right), with each image captured at a 0.5-second interval to ensure coverage of the overall outline of the material and key positioning points. After the images are transmitted to the control system, the actual position coordinates (X1, Y1) of the material are extracted using image recognition algorithms (such as edge detection and feature matching), and compared with the preset positioning coordinates (X0, Y0). The deviation values ​​ΔX = |X1 - X0| and ΔY = |Y1 - Y0| are calculated. If ΔX ≤ ±0.3mm and ΔY ≤ ±0.3mm, the positioning is determined to be qualified, and proceed to the next step; if the deviation exceeds the allowable range, the control system generates a position correction instruction, calculates the required adjustment movement distances (ΔX, ΔY), and sends the corrected coordinates to the movement drive mechanism to provide a basis for subsequent grasping and positioning. The control system sends pulse signals to the servo motors of the movement drive mechanism according to the positioning coordinates (preset coordinates or corrected coordinates) determined in S2, driving the ball screw to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise, and driving the slider to move along the guide rail of the support frame. During the movement, the photoelectric sensors (with a spacing of 10 - 20mm) arranged at intervals along the guide rail detect the position of the slider in real time. Each time a sensor is triggered, a position signal is fed back to the control system. The control system combines the rotational speed of the servo motor (calculates the movement speed in real time) and accurately calculates the real-time position of the slider through interpolation algorithm (with an accuracy of ±0.1mm). When the slider approaches the target position (at a distance of 50 - 100mm), the control system automatically reduces the rotational speed of the servo motor, reducing the movement speed from 100 - 150mm / s to 30 - 50mm / s, achieving precise control of "fast movement + slow stop" to avoid positioning errors caused by inertia. When the slider reaches the preset position directly above the material positioning table (with an error ≤ ±0.5mm), the control system sends a stop instruction, the servo motor stops, and the movement drive mechanism locks the position. The control system sends a downward instruction to the lifting mechanism (taking an electric push rod as an example), and the electric push rod drives the mounting plate and the pneumatic suction cup assembly to descend vertically. The descent process adopts two-stage speed control: the first stage (when the suction cup is more than 100mm away from the material surface): the descent speed is set to 50 - 100mm / s to quickly approach the material and shorten the operation time; the second stage (when the suction cup is 50 - 100mm away from the material surface): the descent speed is switched to 10 - 30mm / s to slowly approach the material and avoid damage to the material or deformation of the suction cup caused by high-speed impact. After successful adsorption, the control system sends an upward instruction to the lifting mechanism to drive the suction cup assembly adsorbed with the material to rise vertically to the preset safe height (which needs to be higher than the highest points of the surrounding components such as the material positioning table and the guide rail support by ≥100mm to avoid collision during the transfer process), and the upward speed is set to 50 - 80mm / s. Delay and transfer: After the suction cup reaches the safe height, the control system delays for 1 - 3 seconds (specifically adjusted according to the weight of the material, taking 3 seconds for heavy materials and 1 second for light materials). During this period, the negative pressure value is continuously monitored through the pressure sensor. If the negative pressure value does not decrease (with a fluctuation ≤ 0.01MPa), it is confirmed that there is no risk of material detachment, and then a transfer instruction is sent to the movement drive mechanism. The movement drive mechanism drives the suction cup assembly to move along the guide rail to the material placement station, and the load-carrying movement speed is set to 50 - 100mm / s. The photoelectric sensors of the position detection component feed back the position signals in real time. When it reaches the preset position directly above the placement station (with an error ≤ ±0.When the material thickness reaches 5mm, the servo motor stops, completing the transfer and positioning. The control system sends a descent command to the lifting mechanism, causing the suction cup assembly with the material to descend vertically to the preset placement height (5-20mm from the surface of the placement station, adjusted according to the material thickness; 5mm for thin materials, 20mm for thick materials). The descent speed is set to 10-30mm / s to avoid rapid descent causing the material to collide with the placement station. Negative pressure release and placement: After reaching the placement height, the control system sends a closing command to the solenoid valve of the pneumatic control unit. The vacuum generator stops working, the air pipe is connected to the atmosphere, the negative pressure on the suction cup body disappears, and the material is stably placed on the placement station under gravity. Posture confirmation: After the material is placed, the control system triggers the vision detection component, and the industrial camera captures an image of the material on the placement station. The image recognition determines the material's placement posture (e.g., whether it is tilted or exceeds the station range). If the posture deviation is ≤±0.5mm and the material is completely within the placement station, the placement is deemed qualified, and the lifting mechanism is controlled to raise the suction cup assembly to the safe position. Full height; if the posture is abnormal (e.g., deviation > 0.5mm), an "abnormal posture" alarm will be issued immediately, prompting the operator to adjust the material position. After the material is placed correctly, the control system sends a reset command to the moving drive mechanism, driving the suction cup assembly back to the initial standby position along the guide rail (consistent with the standby position in step S1, error ≤ ±1mm). The reset speed is set to 100-150mm / s. Cyclic operation control: After reset, the control system determines whether there is new material to be gripped based on the material detection sensor (e.g., infrared sensor) signal of the material positioning table. If new material is detected (sensor signal trigger), it automatically jumps to step S2 and starts the next loading / unloading cycle. If no new material is detected, it checks again after a 30-second delay. After three consecutive checks without material, the control system enters sleep mode. During sleep mode, it automatically performs a component self-check every 5-10 minutes (only checking the basic status of the motor and pneumatic components, without performing movement or lifting actions). If new material is detected, the system is immediately awakened and operation begins from step S2.

[0058] Finally, the following points should be noted: First, in the description of this application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise specified and limited, the terms "installation", "connection", and "linkage" should be interpreted broadly, and can be mechanical or electrical connections, or internal connections between two components, or direct connections. "Up", "down", "left", "right", etc. are only used to indicate relative positional relationships. When the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may change.

[0059] Secondly: The accompanying drawings of the embodiments disclosed in this invention only involve the structures involved in the embodiments disclosed in this invention. Other structures can refer to the general design. In the absence of conflict, the same embodiment and different embodiments of this invention can be combined with each other.

[0060] In conclusion, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for loading and unloading a pneumatic suction cup assembly, characterized in that: Includes the following steps: S1: System initialization. Input material grabbing parameters through the human-machine interface of the control system. The material grabbing parameters include at least the grabbing pressure threshold, moving speed, lifting height and material placement coordinates. At the same time, the control system performs self-checks on the moving drive mechanism, lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly. After confirming that each component is in normal condition, it enters standby mode. S2: Place the material to be grabbed on the positioning structure of the material positioning table, obtain the actual position information of the material on the positioning structure through the vision detection component and transmit it to the control system. The control system compares the actual position information with the preset positioning coordinates and determines whether the deviation value is within the allowable range. If it exceeds the allowable range, a position correction command is generated. S3: The control system controls the moving drive mechanism to move along the guide rail of the support frame according to the preset positioning coordinates or the corrected coordinates, and drives the lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly to move to the preset position directly above the material positioning platform. During the movement, the position of the moving drive mechanism is fed back in real time through the position detection component to achieve accurate positioning. S4: The control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to descend vertically. When the suction cup body of the pneumatic suction cup assembly contacts the material and the contact pressure detected by the pressure sensor reaches the gripping pressure threshold, the lifting mechanism stops descending. Then, the control system controls the vacuum generator of the pneumatic suction cup assembly to start, so that the suction cup body generates negative pressure to adsorb the material. S5: After the material is adsorbed, the lifting mechanism drives the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to rise to the preset safe height. The control system then controls the moving drive mechanism to move the lifting mechanism and the pneumatic suction cup assembly to the preset position directly above the material placement station. S6: The control system controls the lifting mechanism to lower the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to the preset placement height, then controls the vacuum generator to stop working, the negative pressure on the suction cup body disappears, the material is placed at the placement station, and then the lifting mechanism drives the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise to the safe height. S7: The control system controls the moving drive mechanism to drive the lifting mechanism and pneumatic suction cup assembly back to the initial standby position, completing one loading and unloading cycle. If continuous operation is required, repeat steps S2-S6.

2. The loading and unloading method for a pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S1, if the control system detects an abnormality in a component during self-testing, it issues an alarm prompt through the human-machine interface. The alarm prompt includes the specific location of the abnormal component and the type of abnormality. At the same time, the control system locks the operation function until the abnormality is eliminated and the self-test passes again.

3. The loading and unloading method for a pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S2, the vision inspection component includes an industrial camera and a light source. When acquiring the actual position information of the material, the light source is first turned on to provide a detection light source for the industrial camera. The industrial camera takes at least three material images from different angles. The control system performs fusion processing on the multiple images to determine the actual position information of the material.

4. The loading and unloading method for a pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S3, the position detection component includes multiple photoelectric sensors spaced apart along the extension direction of the guide rail. When the moving drive mechanism triggers two adjacent photoelectric sensors, the control system calculates the real-time position of the moving drive mechanism based on the distance between the two photoelectric sensors and the moving speed of the moving drive mechanism, thereby achieving millimeter-level positioning accuracy.

5. The loading and unloading method for a pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S4, after the vacuum generator is started, the control system monitors the negative pressure value of the suction cup body in real time through the pressure sensor of the pneumatic control unit. If the negative pressure value is lower than the preset negative pressure threshold, the control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise, and at the same time issues a negative pressure insufficient alarm and re-executes the adsorption operation of step S4.

6. The loading and unloading method for a pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S5, after the lifting mechanism raises the pneumatic suction cup assembly with the adsorbed material to a safe height, the control system delays for 1-3 seconds before controlling the movement drive mechanism to start. During the delay, the negative pressure value of the suction cup body is continuously monitored to ensure that the material does not fall off.

7. The loading and unloading method for a pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S6, after the material is placed at the placement station, before the control system controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pneumatic suction cup assembly to rise, it takes an image of the material at the placement station through the vision detection component to confirm that the material placement posture meets the preset requirements. If it does not meet the requirements, an abnormal posture alarm is issued.

8. The loading and unloading method for a pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S7, when continuous operation is achieved, the control system determines whether there is a new material to be grabbed based on the material detection sensor signal of the material positioning table. If a new material is detected, step S2 is automatically started. If no material is detected, the control system enters a sleep state. During the sleep period, a component self-check is performed every 5-10 minutes.

9. The loading and unloading method for the pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S4, during the process of the lifting mechanism driving the pneumatic suction cup assembly to descend, the descent speed is controlled in two stages. The first stage descent speed is 50-100mm / s. When the suction cup body is 50-100mm away from the material surface, it switches to the second stage descent speed of 10-30mm / s until the suction cup body contacts the material.

10. The loading and unloading method for the pneumatic suction cup assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes an emergency handling procedure. When the control system receives an emergency stop signal or detects an abnormal parameter that exceeds the safe range during any step, it immediately controls the moving drive mechanism to stop moving and the lifting mechanism to stop operating. At the same time, it controls the vacuum generator to maintain a negative pressure state to prevent material from falling off. After the fault is cleared, depending on the step position when the abnormality occurred, it can choose to re-execute the current step or restart from step S1.

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