An automatic boxing system, method and electronic device for an injection molding machine

Abstract

The application provides an automatic boxing system, method and electronic device for an injection molding machine, comprising a manipulator, a visual detection unit, an edge boxing machine and a central controller. The manipulator is used to grab injection molding products from a mold of the injection molding machine and move to a manipulator feeding station to put the injection molding products into empty trays at the manipulator feeding station. The visual detection unit is integrated on the edge boxing machine and is used to synchronously perform appearance defect detection during the movement of the injection molding products to the manipulator feeding station and to remove unqualified products. The edge boxing machine is arranged at a product outlet of the injection molding machine and is used to provide empty trays and output trays loaded with qualified products. The central controller is coupled with the injection molding machine, the manipulator and the edge boxing machine through industrial Ethernet to realize whole-process linkage control. The visual detection unit is integrated on the edge boxing machine, appearance defect detection is synchronously completed during the material taking process, and the boxing efficiency is significantly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of packaging technology, and more specifically, to an automatic packaging system, method, and electronic equipment for injection molding machines. Background Technology

[0002] With the continuous improvement of industrial automation, the injection molding industry has increasingly higher requirements for production efficiency, product quality, and cost control. In the injection molding process, the loading and unloading, sorting, inspection, and packaging of products after they are removed from the mold have traditionally relied on manual operation or semi-automated equipment.

[0003] Although some companies have introduced robotic arms to automate the picking process, there are still some problems in sorting: existing vision inspection systems are mostly set up downstream of the production line. After the products are loaded onto trays, the downstream inspection unit identifies the defective products, resulting in a lengthy process that is difficult to meet the needs of high-speed production and low packing efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic boxing system, method and electronic equipment for injection molding machines to improve boxing efficiency.

[0005] In a first aspect, an automatic case packing system for injection molding machines is provided, comprising a robotic arm, a vision inspection unit, a machine-side case packer, and a central controller, wherein: A robotic arm is used to grab injection molded products from the mold of an injection molding machine and move them to the robotic arm loading station, where the injection molded products are placed into an empty pallet. The vision inspection unit, integrated into the machine-side case packer, is used to simultaneously perform appearance defect detection and reject unqualified products as the injection molded products move to the robotic arm loading station. A machine-side case packer is located at the product exit of an injection molding machine and is used to provide empty pallets and output pallets loaded with qualified products. The central controller is coupled to the injection molding machine, the robotic arm, and the machine-side packing machine via industrial Ethernet to achieve full-process linkage control.

[0006] Optionally, the machine-side case packer includes a two-layer structure, wherein the lower layer is provided with a first conveying mechanism and a pallet unpacking mechanism, and the upper layer is provided with a pallet stacking mechanism, a second conveying mechanism, and a pallet lifting device that can connect the upper and lower layers. The unpacking mechanism is used to separate a single empty pallet from the empty pallet buffer station and transport it to the pallet lifting device via the first conveying mechanism. The pallet lifting device runs vertically through the upper and lower layers to lift empty pallets from the lower layer to the robotic arm loading station on the upper layer, and returns to the lower layer after putting down the empty pallets; The second conveying mechanism is used to transport pallets loaded with qualified products to the pallet stacking and buffering station; The pallet stacking mechanism is used to stack multiple pallets loaded with qualified products to a preset height and then output them as a whole.

[0007] Optionally, the second conveying mechanism includes a lifting cylinder, a positioning cylinder, a rodless cylinder, and a slide table; The lifting cylinder is used to clamp and fix the empty pallet after it has been lifted to a preset height by the pallet lifting device; A slide table is used to support an empty pallet after the lifting cylinder is released, serving as a support platform for loading and conveying materials. Positioning cylinders are used to push the slide carrying the empty pallet to the loading station of the robot arm; The rodless cylinder is used to push the slide table and the tray together to the stacking buffer station after the tray is full.

[0008] Optionally, the robotic arm includes an X, Y, and Z three-axis drive module, a picking fixture located at the end of the robotic arm, and several grippers located on the picking fixture; The part-picking fixture is installed at the end of the robot's Z-axis and driven by the X or Y-axis servo module to adjust the clamping distance between adjacent grippers to adapt to the mold cavity spacing of the injection molding machine and the storage position spacing of the pallet. The gripper is used to grasp injection molded products.

[0009] Optionally, the system also includes a feeding mechanism located between the robotic arm loading station and the stacked tray buffer station; The second conveying mechanism is used to transport pallets that are not full of qualified products to the replenishment mechanism; The replenishment mechanism is used to replenish pallets that are not full of qualified products, so that they reach the preset loading quantity.

[0010] Secondly, an automatic packing method for an injection molding machine is provided, comprising: When a signal is received that an empty pallet has arrived at the robot's loading station, a picking instruction is sent to the robot. The picking instruction instructs the robot to grab the injection molded product from the mold of the injection molding machine and place it into the empty pallet at the robot's loading station. Simultaneously, a start command is sent to the vision inspection unit, which instructs the vision inspection unit to perform appearance defect detection on the grasped product; and based on the detection results, it controls the robot arm to load qualified products into an empty pallet and put unqualified products into a waste bin. Once the pallet is detected to be fully loaded, a first conveying instruction is sent to the conveying mechanism, which instructs the conveying mechanism to move the pallet to the stacking buffer station. Once the pallet is detected to have arrived at the pallet stacking buffer station, a pallet stacking command is sent to the pallet stacking mechanism to control it to stack the pallets layer by layer until the preset height is reached and then the whole thing is output.

[0011] Optionally, before sending the picking instruction to the robotic arm, the method further includes: Get the model information of the current injection molded product; Based on the model information and the pre-stored mapping relationship between product models and mold cavity spacing, the corresponding mold cavity spacing parameters are determined. Based on the mold cavity spacing parameters, a first clamping spacing adjustment command is generated and sent. The first clamping spacing adjustment command instructs the robot to adjust the spacing between its end grippers to the target value indicated by the mold cavity spacing parameters.

[0012] Optionally, before controlling the robotic arm to load the injection-molded product into the empty pallet, the method further includes: Based on the current injection molding product model information and the pre-stored mapping relationship between product models and pallet storage space spacing, determine the corresponding pallet storage space spacing parameters; Based on the pallet storage space spacing parameter, a second clamping spacing adjustment command is generated and sent. The second clamping spacing adjustment command instructs the robot to adjust the spacing between its end grippers to the target value indicated by the pallet storage space spacing parameter.

[0013] Optionally, the method further includes the following steps before transferring it to the stacked disk cache station: Receive the pallet missing parts signal sent by the vision inspection unit to determine the number of missing parts on the pallet; Send a second conveying instruction to the conveying mechanism, which instructs the conveying mechanism to convey the pallet that is not full of qualified products to the replenishment mechanism; At the same time, a replenishment instruction is sent to the replenishment mechanism, triggering it to grab the corresponding number of qualified products from the replenishment buffer and load them into the pallet; After receiving the replenishment completion signal from the replenishment mechanism and confirming that the pallet has reached the preset loading quantity, the control conveyor will continue to transport the pallet to the stacking buffer station.

[0014] Thirdly, an electronic device is provided, including a processor, a communication interface, a memory, and a communication bus, wherein the processor, the communication interface, and the memory communicate with each other through the communication bus; Memory, used to store computer programs; The processor, when executing a program stored in memory, implements the second aspect of the method.

[0015] An automatic packing system, method and electronic device for an injection molding machine provided by the present invention include a manipulator, a vision detection unit, a side-of-machine packing machine and a central controller. The manipulator is used to grab injection molded products from the mold of the injection molding machine and move them to the feeding station on the manipulator, and place the injection molded products into the empty trays at the feeding station on the manipulator. The vision detection unit is integrated on the side-of-machine packing machine and is used to synchronously perform appearance defect detection during the movement of the injection molded products to the feeding station on the manipulator and reject unqualified products. The side-of-machine packing machine is arranged at the product outlet of the injection molding machine and is used to provide empty trays and output trays loaded with qualified products. The central controller is coupled with the injection molding machine, the manipulator and the side-of-machine packing machine through an industrial Ethernet to achieve full-process linkage control. By integrating the vision detection unit on the side-of-machine packing machine, the appearance defect detection is completed synchronously during the material taking process, avoiding the redundant process in the traditional scheme and significantly improving the packing efficiency.

[0016] To make the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the following specifically enumerates preferred embodiments and, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, makes a detailed description as follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the embodiments. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present invention and should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0018] Figure 1 Shows the overall structural schematic diagram of an automatic packing system for an injection molding machine provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 Shows the schematic diagram of the detection results of hair and scratch defects provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 Shows the structural schematic diagram of the side-of-machine packing machine provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 Shows the structural schematic diagram of the pallet disassembling mechanism provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 Shows the structural schematic diagram of the scissor lift provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 Shows the structural schematic diagram of the manipulator provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 Shows the flowchart of an automatic packing method for an injection molding machine provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 Shows the schematic diagram of the effect of material shortage detection provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0019] Among them, 100 is an injection molding machine; 200 is a robotic arm; 300 is a vision inspection unit; 400 is a machine-side packing machine; 201 is an X-axis drive module; 202 is a Y-axis drive module; 203 is a Z-axis drive module; 204 is an interval fixture; 401 is a tray unpacking mechanism; 402 is a tray lifting device; 403 is a tray stacking mechanism; 404 is a lifting cylinder; 405 is a positioning cylinder; 406 is a slide table; 4011 is a separating cylinder; and 4012 is a stroke cylinder. Detailed Implementation

[0020] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present invention described and shown in the accompanying drawings can generally be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely to illustrate selected embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] Given that existing vision inspection systems are mostly located downstream of the production line, after the products are packed, the downstream inspection unit identifies the defective products, resulting in a lengthy process that is difficult to meet the needs of high-speed production and low packing efficiency.

[0022] Based on this, embodiments of the present invention provide an automatic packing method and system for injection molding machines, which are described below through embodiments.

[0023] This invention provides an automatic packing system for injection molding machines, such as... Figure 1 As shown, it includes a robotic arm, a vision inspection unit, a machine-side packing machine, and a central controller, wherein: A robotic arm is used to grab injection molded products from the mold of an injection molding machine and move them to the robotic arm loading station, where the injection molded products are placed into an empty pallet.

[0024] In one example, the injection-molded product is primarily a small product, such as bottle caps for alcoholic beverages. The robotic arm's positioning accuracy is in the 0.1mm range.

[0025] The vision inspection unit, integrated into the machine-side case packer, is used to simultaneously perform appearance defect detection (mainly including black spots, oil stains, burrs, missing material, scratches, etc.) as the injection molded products move to the robotic arm loading station, and to reject unqualified products.

[0026] The visual inspection unit used in this embodiment of the invention is fundamentally different from the traditional fixed offline vision system: it is not deployed at an independent inspection station, but integrated on the box packer at the machine side, and completes the appearance defect detection simultaneously during the movement from material picking to box packing.

[0027] This design achieves closed-loop control of the entire process of "material picking, inspection, and rejection," eliminating the redundant process of "material picking → conveying → stop inspection → manual or secondary rejection" in traditional solutions, and significantly improving production efficiency.

[0028] To meet the stringent timing requirement of completing the inspection and outputting the results after the robotic arm picks up the product and before placing it on the tray (the inspection cycle must be controlled within 1 second), this invention has made improvements in four dimensions: hardware architecture, image acquisition, processing mode, and algorithm optimization, to ensure both high precision and high real-time performance.

[0029] First, hardware improvements enhance image acquisition efficiency and accuracy; The vision inspection unit includes four cameras, industrial-grade optical lenses, a ring LED light source, a mounting bracket, and communication cables. It is rigidly mounted on the packing machine next to the machine using a dedicated bracket to ensure stable posture. The four cameras are distributed at multiple angles, allowing simultaneous acquisition of images of the top and multiple sides of the injection-molded product during the robot's movement. This provides complete surface information in one go, avoiding missed inspections due to single-view occlusion.

[0030] The selected camera features a 20-megapixel CMOS sensor, supports autofocus and white balance adjustment, and is compatible with injection-molded products of different materials and reflective properties (such as transparent, matte, and glossy surfaces). The light source uses an adjustable brightness ring LED to ensure stable imaging and reduce ambient light interference.

[0031] Second, edge intelligence processing: localized reasoning reduces communication latency; Unlike traditional methods that upload images to a central controller or host computer for centralized processing, this invention integrates an edge processor within the vision inspection unit and deploys an appearance defect detection model on it. After image acquisition, inference calculations are performed directly at the edge, eliminating the need for transmission to the central controller via industrial Ethernet. This avoids network latency and bandwidth bottlenecks, meeting the real-time requirements of simultaneous material handling and inspection.

[0032] Third, improvements to the model's lightweight design; The appearance defect detection model uses a lightweight network architecture optimized for edge devices, such as OnnxRuntime / TensorRT. All models have been pruned and lightweighted to significantly reduce computation and memory usage while ensuring detection accuracy, adapting to the computing power limitations of edge processors, and achieving an inference time of 80ms.

[0033] Fourth, data augmentation and model training: improving robustness under complex working conditions; This invention employs data augmentation strategies during the model training phase.

[0034] The training process for this appearance defect model includes: Step 1: Dataset Creation; In a specific example, 400 images of various defects in the current injection-molded product were acquired and used as a training sample set.

[0035] Step 2: Dataset labeling; Label each image with a defect category label.

[0036] Step 3: Divide the training sample set; The training and validation sets are divided in an 8:2 ratio.

[0037] Step 4: Training data augmentation; In this step, data augmentation algorithms such as Mosaic, Mixup, or CutMix are used to augment the training set data. The principles of these three data augmentation algorithms are briefly introduced below: CutMix: Cuts and pastes defective areas into normal product images, simulating local occlusion and complex backgrounds, significantly improving the model's sensitivity to local defects such as missing materials and scratches; Mixup: Performs linear interpolation between images and labels to generate "soft labels," preventing the model from overfitting to a few defective samples. It is suitable for production scenarios with a yield rate of over 99%. Mosaic: It stitches four images into one, enhancing the model's ability to recognize small targets and multiple target arrangements, meeting the inspection needs of multiple parts being molded simultaneously, as well as the inspection needs of small-sized injection molded products.

[0038] In a specific example, 400 images containing typical defects such as burrs, frayed edges, and missing material were collected as the training set. The training set and validation set were divided in an 8:2 ratio, and data augmentation was performed using an augmentation strategy with CutMix as the main component and Mixup and Mosaic as supplementary components.

[0039] Step 5: Perform iterative training and validation; The enhanced training data is used for iterative training until the preset number of iterations is reached to complete the training. The training effect of the model is then verified using the validation set.

[0040] like Figure 2 The diagram shows the detection effect of fuzz and scratch defects. It can be seen that the model can accurately locate small linear defects and meet industrial-grade inspection standards.

[0041] Fifth, it supports quick switching between multiple product models; This invention supports multi-model templated management. For different injection-molded products, corresponding detection models are trained separately and stored as template programs in the vision system. When the central controller identifies the current product model, it automatically calls the corresponding detection model without redeployment or manual intervention.

[0042] A machine-side case packer is located at the product exit of an injection molding machine and is used to provide empty pallets and output pallets loaded with qualified products. The central controller is coupled to the injection molding machine, the robotic arm, and the machine-side packing machine via industrial Ethernet to achieve full-process linkage control.

[0043] This invention integrates a vision inspection unit into the movement path of a robotic arm, enabling simultaneous detection of appearance defects during material handling. This avoids redundant processes in traditional solutions, with a detection response time of less than 1 second, significantly improving packing efficiency.

[0044] Based on the above embodiments, such as Figure 3 As shown, the machine-side packing machine includes an upper and lower two-layer structure, wherein the lower layer is equipped with a first conveying mechanism and a pallet unpacking mechanism, and the upper layer is equipped with a pallet stacking mechanism, a second conveying mechanism, and a pallet lifting device that can connect the upper and lower layers. The unpacking mechanism is used to separate individual empty pallets from the empty pallet buffer station and transport them to the pallet lifting device via the first conveying mechanism.

[0045] In embodiments of the present invention, such as Figure 4 As shown, the disassembly mechanism includes two symmetrically arranged separation cylinders and a stroke cylinder. The separation cylinder is installed at the end of the stroke cylinder, and the stroke cylinder drives the separation cylinder to rise and fall. A gripper is installed at the end of the separation cylinder. Its operation flow is as follows: Empty pallet arrival detection → Separation cylinder clamps the second-to-last empty pallet; the second-to-last and above empty pallets rise with the stroke cylinder → the first conveyor transports the empty pallet to the next station → the stroke cylinder lowers the empty pallet to the bottom layer → the separation cylinder releases the clamped empty pallet → the above pallet disassembly action is repeated.

[0046] The pallet lifting device runs vertically through the upper and lower layers, used to lift empty pallets from the lower layer to the robotic arm loading station on the upper layer, and return to the lower layer after putting down the empty pallets.

[0047] In embodiments of the present invention, such as Figure 5 As shown, the pallet lifting device uses a scissor lift.

[0048] The second conveying mechanism is used to transport pallets loaded with qualified products to the pallet stacking and buffering station. The pallet stacking mechanism is used to stack multiple pallets loaded with qualified products to a preset height and then output them as a whole.

[0049] In this embodiment of the invention, the stacking mechanism includes a stacking cylinder and a stroke cylinder. The stacking cylinder is installed at the end of the stroke cylinder, and the stroke cylinder drives the stacking cylinder to rise and fall. A gripper is installed at the end of the stacking cylinder. Its operation flow is as follows: The second conveyor mechanism brings in a pallet loaded with qualified injection molded products → the stacking cylinder clamps the pallet → the stroke cylinder rises → the second conveyor mechanism brings in a pallet loaded with qualified injection molded products → the stroke cylinder lowers the upper pallet to above the lowermost pallet; the stacking cylinder releases the pallet → the stroke cylinder lowers to the lowest position → the stacking cylinder clamps the pallet → the stroke cylinder raises all the pallets → the above process is repeated.

[0050] This invention employs a two-layer structure, with the lower layer responsible for unpacking and conveying, and the upper layer for packing and stacking pallets. The pallet lifting device is vertically integrated, which greatly reduces the space occupied by the equipment.

[0051] Based on the above embodiments, the second conveying mechanism includes a lifting cylinder, a positioning cylinder, a rodless cylinder, and a slide table; The lifting cylinder is used to clamp and fix the empty pallet after it has been lifted to a preset height by the pallet lifting device, preventing it from falling down.

[0052] In traditional structures, the top tray often falls due to friction or adhesion when the lifting device descends, resulting in empty spaces. This invention uses a lifting cylinder to actively clamp the top tray, ensuring it remains stationary when the lifting device retracts, and releases it only after the slide is in place, preventing tray misalignment, falling, or accidental removal of double-layered trays.

[0053] A slide table is used to support an empty pallet after the lifting cylinder is released, serving as a support platform for loading and conveying materials. The positioning cylinder is used to push the slide carrying the empty pallet to the robot arm loading station, and achieves precise positioning through mechanical dead stop to ensure the consistency of the robot arm's loading position.

[0054] The positioning cylinder pushes the slide carrying the pallet to the loading station of the robot arm and abuts against the mechanical dead stop to achieve hard limit positioning, which greatly improves the positioning accuracy of the empty pallet and ensures that each product falls accurately into the pallet storage position, avoiding stacking damage or misjudgment of appearance defects caused by offset.

[0055] The rodless cylinder is used to push the slide table and the pallet together to the pallet buffer station after the pallet is full, thus completing the pallet transfer.

[0056] The slide table is driven by a rodless cylinder, eliminating the need for external guide rails to support long-stroke movement, saving lateral space and making it suitable for narrow machine layouts. At the same time, the rodless cylinder moves smoothly with a low failure rate, supports high-frequency reciprocating motion, and meets the needs of high-cycle production, such as one mold every 8 seconds.

[0057] Based on this second conveying mechanism, the loading process of the robotic arm is as follows: The scissor lift rises to the designated position → the lifting cylinder holds the empty pallet → the scissor lift descends → the lifting cylinder releases the empty pallet, which falls onto the slide → the positioning cylinder pushes the slide to its dead position → the robotic arm completes unloading → when the empty pallet is full of material, the rodless cylinder pushes the slide to the stacking buffer station → the stacking mechanism completes the stacking action → the rodless cylinder drives the slide back to the robotic arm loading station → the action cycle repeats.

[0058] Based on the above embodiments, such as Figure 6 As shown, the robotic arm includes an X, Y, and Z three-axis drive module, a part-picking fixture located at the end of the robotic arm, and several grippers located on the part-picking fixture; The part-retrieving fixture is installed at the end of the robot's Z-axis and is driven by the X or Y-axis servo module to adjust the clamping distance between adjacent grippers to adapt to the mold cavity spacing of the injection molding machine and the storage position spacing of the pallet.

[0059] The gripper is used to grasp injection molded products. The gripper can be a suction cup or a clamping cylinder. The suction cup can be a non-marking suction cup.

[0060] If the injection-molded product is in a vertical position after being gripped, it can be rotated 90° to make the product horizontal for the visual inspection unit to perform appearance inspection.

[0061] The specific motion flow of the robotic arm is as follows: Step 1: The robotic arm moves to directly above the mold, and the Z-axis descends. At the same time, the central controller calls the pre-stored mold cavity spacing parameters according to the product model and controls the X or Y axis servo module to move, adjusting the spacing between the grippers to match the spacing of the mold cavity.

[0062] Step 2: After adjustment, the gripper simultaneously grabs multiple injection molded products; Step 3: After the material is picked up, the Z-axis rises and the end effector of the robot arm drives the entire picking fixture to rotate 90°, so that the product originally gripped vertically becomes horizontal. Step 4: During the process of the robotic arm moving to the robotic arm loading station, the vision inspection unit performs top and side appearance inspection on the horizontal product to identify defects such as flash, missing material, and deformation. Step 5: After the inspection is completed, the robotic arm moves to the loading station. The central controller calls the pre-stored pallet storage space spacing parameters according to the product model and readjusts the gripper spacing to match the pallet layout. Step 6: Descend along the Z-axis and accurately place the qualified product into the corresponding position on the tray, completing one pick-up and place cycle.

[0063] This invention utilizes a three-axis robotic arm to adjust the gripper spacing, automatically matching different mold cavity layouts and pallet storage space spacing without requiring fixture replacement or manual adjustment, thus improving the level of automation.

[0064] Based on the above embodiments, the system also includes a feeding mechanism, which is located between the robotic arm loading station and the stacked tray buffer station; The second conveying mechanism is used to transport pallets that are not full of qualified products to the replenishment mechanism; The replenishment mechanism is used to replenish pallets that are not full of qualified products, so that they reach the preset loading quantity.

[0065] In this embodiment of the invention, the feeding mechanism is equipped with an independent robotic arm, and the original robotic arm can continue to execute the next material picking procedure, so as not to affect the packing rhythm of the main line and ensure packing efficiency. This invention improves the pallet load rate by setting up a replenishment mechanism between the robotic arm loading station and the pallet stacking buffer station, and by using a second conveying mechanism to automatically transport pallets that are not full of qualified products to the replenishment station.

[0066] Based on the same inventive concept, an automatic box-packing method for injection molding machines is provided, wherein the execution body of the method is a central controller, such as... Figure 7 As shown, it includes the following steps: Step S701: When a signal is received that an empty pallet has arrived at the robot's loading station, a picking instruction is sent to the robot. The picking instruction instructs the robot to grab the injection molded product from the mold of the injection molding machine and place it into the empty pallet at the robot's loading station.

[0067] In this step, a limit switch can be installed at the robot arm loading station to detect whether the empty tray is in place.

[0068] Step S702: Simultaneously send a start command to the vision inspection unit, which instructs the vision inspection unit to perform appearance defect detection on the grasped product; and based on the detection results, control the robot arm to load qualified products into an empty pallet and put unqualified products into a waste bin.

[0069] In this step, the hardware architecture of the visual inspection unit and the description of the appearance defect detection model are as described in the above embodiments and will not be repeated here. The visual inspection unit performs appearance defect detection directly at the edge and only needs to send the detection results to the central controller for unified scheduling.

[0070] Step S703: When the pallet is detected to be fully loaded, a first conveying instruction is sent to the conveying mechanism, which instructs the conveying mechanism to move the pallet to the stacking buffer station.

[0071] The conveying mechanism in this step is specifically the second conveying mechanism. The operation process of the second conveying mechanism is also the same as in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0072] Step S704: When the pallet is detected to have arrived at the pallet stacking buffer station, a pallet stacking command is sent to the pallet stacking mechanism to control it to stack the pallets layer by layer until the preset height is reached and then the whole thing is output.

[0073] In this step, the operation flow of the stacking mechanism is also described in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0074] This invention embeds the appearance defect detection process into the movement path of the robotic arm from the mold to the loading station. Image acquisition and defect judgment are completed during the idle travel time after the product is picked up and before it is placed on the pallet. This makes full use of the original handling waiting period, avoids setting up an additional independent inspection station and stopping time, and greatly improves the packing efficiency.

[0075] In existing automated production lines for injection molded products, different product models typically have different mold cavity layouts and pallet storage layouts. Traditional methods often require manual intervention to adjust the gripping spacing of the robotic arm to accommodate the different product sizes and arrangements. This manual adjustment is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, resulting in low production efficiency and inconsistent product quality. Furthermore, frequent manual operation increases maintenance costs and makes it difficult to achieve a highly automated production process.

[0076] Therefore, based on the above embodiments, before sending the material handling command to the robotic arm, the method further includes: Step S705: Obtain the model information of the current injection molded product.

[0077] Step S706: Based on the model information and the pre-stored mapping relationship between the product model and the mold cavity spacing, determine the corresponding mold cavity spacing parameters.

[0078] Step S707: Based on the mold cavity spacing parameters, generate and send a first clamping spacing adjustment command. The first clamping spacing adjustment command instructs the robot to adjust the spacing between its end grippers to the target value indicated by the mold cavity spacing parameters.

[0079] Similarly, before controlling the robotic arm to load the injection-molded product into the empty pallet, the method also includes: Step S708: Based on the model information of the current injection molded product and the pre-stored mapping relationship between the product model and the pallet storage space spacing, determine the corresponding pallet storage space spacing parameters; Step S709: Based on the pallet storage position spacing parameter, generate and send a second clamping spacing adjustment command. The second clamping spacing adjustment command instructs the robot to adjust the spacing between its end grippers to the target value indicated by the pallet storage position spacing parameter.

[0080] In a specific embodiment, it is assumed that the injection molded products currently being produced have two models: Type A and Type B. Type A product: mold cavity spacing: 50mm in the X direction, 60mm in the Y direction; pallet storage space spacing: 45mm in the X direction, 55mm in the Y direction; Type B product: mold cavity spacing: 70mm in the X direction, 80mm in the Y direction; pallet storage space spacing: 65mm in the X direction, 75mm in the Y direction.

[0081] When producing type A products, the robotic arm first adjusts the gripper spacing to 50mm in the X direction and 60mm in the Y direction to accommodate product removal from the mold. After removing the product, the robotic arm moves to the loading station, where it performs visual defect inspection. After inspection, the robotic arm adjusts the gripper spacing to 45mm in the X direction and 55mm in the Y direction to accurately place the product into the pallet. Once placed in the pallet, the robotic arm adjusts the gripper spacing again to 50mm in the X direction and 60mm in the Y direction to continue accommodating product removal from the mold. For type B products, the robotic arm is similarly adjusted according to the corresponding parameters.

[0082] This invention, through automated clamping spacing adjustment, reduces downtime caused by manual adjustments and improves the overall production line efficiency. Furthermore, it allows a single production line to handle the production needs of multiple product models without requiring physical adjustments or replacements of equipment, greatly enhancing system flexibility. In addition, precise clamping spacing adjustment helps ensure that each product is correctly removed from the mold and placed into the pallet, reducing the risk of damage or misplacement and improving the consistency of final product quality.

[0083] When a pallet becomes empty due to product defects or gripping failure, such as Figure 8The diagram illustrates the effect of material shortage detection. The system typically cannot replenish materials in real time. If replenishment is needed, it must wait until the next mold opening to retrieve qualified products from the main line, causing the pallet to remain at the current workstation for an extended period, preventing it from flowing downstream. This not only causes production line congestion but also hinders the normal transport of subsequent fully loaded pallets, affecting the working rhythm of the pallet stacking mechanism and even interfering with the continuous supply of empty pallets by the pallet lifting device. This severely disrupts the production rhythm of the injection molding line and reduces overall production efficiency.

[0084] Therefore, based on the above embodiments, before transferring it to the stacked disk cache station, the method further includes: Step S710: Receive the pallet missing parts signal sent by the vision detection unit and determine the number of missing parts on the pallet.

[0085] Step S711: Send a second conveying instruction to the conveying mechanism, which instructs the conveying mechanism to convey the pallet that is not full of qualified products to the replenishment mechanism.

[0086] Step S712: Simultaneously send a replenishment instruction to the replenishment mechanism, triggering it to grab the corresponding number of qualified products from the replenishment buffer and load them into the pallet.

[0087] In this step, the replenishment mechanism is equipped with a separate replenishment gripper and replenishment buffer area. The injection molded products used for replenishment are all qualified injection molded products that can be obtained from the supply chain.

[0088] Step S713: Receive the replenishment completion signal returned by the replenishment mechanism, and after confirming that the pallet has reached the preset loading quantity, control the conveying mechanism to continue conveying the pallet to the stacking buffer station.

[0089] This application, by setting up an independent replenishment buffer area and a dedicated replenishment mechanism, directly diverts pallets that are not full of qualified products to the replenishment station via a second conveyor, instead of leaving them in the main process. The replenishment mechanism quickly grabs the missing number of products from the pre-stored qualified products, completing accurate replenishment. Once the pallet reaches the preset loading quantity, it is sent back to the main conveyor path to continue moving to the pallet stacking buffer station. Without sacrificing production cycle time, this effectively ensures the full load rate of shipping pallets and the integrity of packing, balancing efficiency and quality, and solving the current system's dilemma of "replenishing slows down the process, and not replenishing results in missing parts."

[0090] Based on the same technical concept, embodiments of the present invention also provide an electronic device, such as... Figure 9 As shown, it includes a processor 901, a communication interface 902, a memory 903, and a communication bus 904, wherein the processor 901, the communication interface 902, and the memory 903 communicate with each other through the communication bus 904.

[0091] Memory 903 is used to store computer programs; The processor 901, when executing a program stored in the memory 903, implements the steps of an automatic packing method for an injection molding machine.

[0092] The communication bus mentioned in the above electronic devices can be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. This communication bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used to represent it in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0093] The communication interface is used for communication between the aforementioned electronic devices and other devices.

[0094] The memory may include random access memory (RAM) or non-volatile memory (NVM), such as at least one disk storage device. Optionally, the memory may also be at least one storage device located remotely from the aforementioned processor.

[0095] The processors mentioned above can be general-purpose processors, including central processing units (CPUs), network processors (NPs), etc.; they can also be digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components.

[0096] The method provided in this embodiment of the invention has the same implementation principle and technical effects as the aforementioned system embodiment. For the sake of brevity, any parts not mentioned in the system embodiment can be referred to the corresponding content in the aforementioned system embodiment. Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, units, and processes described above can all be referred to the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0097] In the embodiments provided by this invention, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods can be implemented in other ways. The system embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. Furthermore, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Additionally, the shown or discussed mutual couplings, direct couplings, or communication connections may be through some communication interfaces. Indirect couplings or communication connections between systems or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0098] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0099] In addition, the functional units in the embodiments provided by the present invention can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0100] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this invention, essentially, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0101] It should be noted that similar labels and letters in the following figures indicate similar items. Therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent figures. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used only to distinguish descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0102] Finally, it should be noted that the above-described embodiments are merely specific implementations of the present invention, used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit it. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that any person skilled in the art can still modify or easily conceive of changes to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention, or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features; and these modifications, changes, 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. All should be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An automatic packing system for an injection molding machine, characterized in that, It includes a robotic arm, a vision inspection unit, a machine-side packing machine, and a central controller, among which: The robotic arm is used to grab the injection molded product from the mold of the injection molding machine and move it to the robotic arm loading station to place the injection molded product into the empty tray at the robotic arm loading station. The visual inspection unit is integrated into the machine-side case packer and is used to simultaneously perform appearance defect detection and reject unqualified products during the process of the injection molded products moving to the loading station of the robotic arm. The machine-side case packer is located at the product outlet of the injection molding machine and is used to provide empty pallets and output pallets loaded with qualified products. The machine-side packing machine includes a two-layer structure, wherein the lower layer is equipped with a first conveying mechanism and a pallet unpacking mechanism, and the upper layer is equipped with a pallet stacking mechanism, a second conveying mechanism, and a pallet lifting device that can connect the upper and lower layers. The unpacking mechanism is used to separate a single empty pallet from the empty pallet buffer station and transport it to the pallet lifting device via the first conveying mechanism. The pallet lifting device vertically penetrates the upper and lower layers, and is used to lift empty pallets from the lower layer to the robotic arm loading station on the upper layer, and return to the lower layer after putting down the empty pallets. The second conveying mechanism is used to transport pallets loaded with qualified products to the pallet stacking buffer station; The pallet stacking mechanism is used to stack multiple pallets loaded with qualified products to a preset height and then output them as a whole. The second conveying mechanism includes a lifting cylinder, a positioning cylinder, a rodless cylinder, and a slide table; The lifting cylinder is used to clamp and fix the empty pallet after it has been lifted to a preset height by the pallet lifting device. The slide is used to support an empty pallet after the lifting cylinder is released; The positioning cylinder is used to push the slide carrying the empty pallet to the loading station of the robot arm; The rodless cylinder is used to push the slide table together with the tray to the stacked tray buffer station after the tray is full; The central controller is coupled to the injection molding machine, the robotic arm, and the machine-side packing machine via industrial Ethernet to achieve full-process linkage control.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The robotic arm includes an X, Y, and Z three-axis drive module, a part-retrieving fixture located at the end of the robotic arm, and several grippers located on the part-retrieving fixture; The part-retrieving fixture is installed at the end of the Z-axis of the robot and is driven by the X or Y axis servo module to adjust the clamping distance between adjacent grippers to adapt to the mold cavity spacing of the injection molding machine and the storage position spacing of the tray. The gripper is used to grip injection-molded products.

3. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The system also includes a feeding mechanism located between the robotic arm's loading station and the stacked tray buffer station. The second conveying mechanism is used to transport pallets that are not full of qualified products to the replenishment mechanism; The replenishing mechanism is used to replenish the pallets that are not full of qualified products, so that they reach the preset loading quantity.

4. An automatic packing method for an automatic packing system for an injection molding machine based on any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, include: When a signal is received that an empty pallet has arrived at the robot arm loading station, a picking instruction is sent to the robot arm. The picking instruction instructs the robot arm to grab the injection molded product from the mold of the injection molding machine and place it into the empty pallet at the robot arm loading station. Simultaneously, a start command is sent to the vision inspection unit, which instructs the vision inspection unit to perform appearance defect detection on the grasped product; and based on the detection results, controls the robot arm to load qualified products into an empty pallet and unqualified products into a waste bin; Once the pallet is detected as fully loaded, a first conveying instruction is sent to the conveying mechanism, which instructs the conveying mechanism to move the pallet to the stacking buffer station. Once the pallet is detected to have arrived at the pallet stacking buffer station, a pallet stacking command is sent to the pallet stacking mechanism to control it to stack the pallets layer by layer until the preset height is reached and then the whole thing is output.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Before sending the material handling command to the robotic arm, the method further includes: Get the model information of the current injection molded product; Based on the model information and the pre-stored mapping relationship between product models and mold cavity spacing, the corresponding mold cavity spacing parameters are determined. Based on the mold cavity spacing parameters, a first clamping spacing adjustment command is generated and sent, which instructs the robot to adjust the spacing between its end grippers to the target value indicated by the mold cavity spacing parameters.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, Before controlling the robotic arm to load the injection-molded product into the empty pallet, the method further includes: Based on the model information of the current injection molded product and the pre-stored mapping relationship between the product model and the pallet storage space spacing, the corresponding pallet storage space spacing parameters are determined. Based on the tray storage space spacing parameter, a second clamping spacing adjustment command is generated and sent. The second clamping spacing adjustment command instructs the robot to adjust the spacing between its end grippers to the target value indicated by the tray storage space spacing parameter.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Before transferring it to the stacked disk cache station, the method further includes: Receive the pallet missing parts signal sent by the vision inspection unit to determine the number of missing parts on the pallet; Send a second conveying instruction to the conveying mechanism, which instructs the conveying mechanism to convey the pallet that is not full of qualified products to the replenishment mechanism; At the same time, a replenishment instruction is sent to the replenishment mechanism, triggering it to grab qualified products corresponding to the number of missing parts from the replenishment buffer and load them into the pallet; After receiving the replenishment completion signal from the replenishment mechanism and confirming that the pallet has reached the preset loading quantity, the control conveyor will continue to transport the pallet to the stacking buffer station.

8. An electronic device, characterized in that, It includes a processor, a communication interface, a memory, and a communication bus, wherein the processor, the communication interface, and the memory communicate with each other through the communication bus; The memory is used to store computer programs; When the processor executes the program stored in the memory, it implements the method described in any one of claims 4-7.

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