Automatic egg sorting and putting system based on posture transformation and gravity guidance and control method

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic egg sorting and putting system based on posture transformation and gravity guidance and a control method, and belongs to the field of poultry egg processing automation. The system comprises a working platform, a translation device, a rotating device, a lifting device and a grabbing and sorting device. Through PLC closed-loop control, when the lifting device is in an unfolded state, the grabbing and sorting device is in a horizontal posture and is suitable for stably bearing scooped eggs; when the lifting device is folded, due to the asymmetric structure of the lifting device, the grabbing and sorting device is automatically turned into an inclined posture, a baffle is opened after the grabbing and sorting device reaches a throwing point position, and eggs slide to a corresponding cleaning tank along a buffering inclined plane under pure gravity guidance. According to the method, through collaborative operation of posture transformation and gravity guidance, rapid, lossless and automatic sorting and putting of eggs are achieved, and the problems that manual sorting is low in efficiency and high in sanitation risk and the damage rate of universal equipment is high are effectively solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of automated poultry egg processing equipment technology, and more specifically, to an automated sorting and delivery equipment and control method for eggs before the washing process, which is particularly suitable for production line scenarios where batches of eggs are quickly and without damage sorted and accurately delivered to subsequent washing tanks. Background Technology

[0002] In the poultry and egg processing industry, cleaning is a crucial preliminary process to ensure food safety and product quality. Before entering the cleaning tank, eggs typically need to be transferred from centralized transfer baskets or conveyor belts to the cleaning station; this process is called sorting and placement. Currently, there are two main operating models for this stage, each with significant drawbacks:

[0003] 1. Manual Sorting and Placement Mode: This mode relies entirely on manual operation. Workers manually pick up eggs from the placement area and place them one by one or in batches into the washing equipment. This method has significant drawbacks: First, manual labor is inefficient and labor-intensive, making it difficult to keep up with the high-speed pace of modern production lines, thus becoming a bottleneck for capacity expansion. Second, direct contact between human hands and food-grade raw materials introduces hygiene and safety hazards such as microbial contamination and sweat stains, failing to meet increasingly stringent food safety production standards. Third, the instability and fatigue associated with manual operation easily lead to egg breakage, resulting in a high breakage rate and direct economic losses.

[0004] 2. To replace manual labor, some general-purpose gripping or conveying mechanical devices have emerged in the market for mechanized sorting equipment. However, these devices are not effective in the specific scenario of egg pre-washing. On the one hand, most general-purpose robotic arms use clamping or suction cups, which are poorly adapted to oval-shaped eggs with fragile shells, easily causing crushing or detachment during the gripping process. On the other hand, existing equipment has limited functionality, often only completing part of the "grip-move-release" action, lacking a dedicated design for efficient integration with the washing process. For example, the equipment may not be able to switch from row stacking to directional and orderly placement, or it may not be able to adapt to the layout requirements of multiple parallel washing tanks, resulting in an inefficient overall process that still requires manual intervention or secondary sorting.

[0005] Therefore, current technologies lack a dedicated automated sorting and delivery solution for the egg pre-washing stage that can simultaneously achieve high efficiency, low breakage rate, high hygiene standards, and good process adaptability. The egg processing industry urgently needs an automated sorting and delivery device and intelligent control method that can be seamlessly integrated into the production line to achieve fast, gentle, precise, and flexibly configurable processes, in order to overcome production bottlenecks and improve overall automation levels and economic benefits. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This invention provides a compact and responsive automated equipment and control method for sorting and dispensing eggs before washing.

[0007] The equipment includes a work platform, a translation device, a rotation device, a lifting device, and a gripping and sorting device. The work platform has an egg placement area and an egg washing tank; the translation device is mounted on an aluminum profile frame fixed to the work platform; the rotation device is installed below the translation device in an inverted suspended manner; the input end of the lifting device is connected to the rotation device, and the output end is connected to the gripping and sorting device; the gripping and sorting device is used to complete the gripping and placement of eggs.

[0008] Furthermore, the translation device, rotation device, lifting device, and gripping and sorting device all use cylinders as the main actuators, with the air circuit controlled by solenoid valves. The translation device consists of rodless cylinders and a first mounting plate. Two sets of rodless cylinders arranged side by side are inverted and mounted on the top of the aluminum profile frame, with their output ends connected to the first mounting plate, for long-distance linear transport of eggs. The rotation device includes a three-position swing cylinder and a second mounting plate. The three-position swing cylinder is inverted and mounted below the first mounting plate, with its output end connected to the second mounting plate, for driving the lower device to adjust its angle.

[0009] Furthermore, the lifting device adopts a design based on the asymmetric single-stage scissor principle. Its core function is to realize adaptive attitude transformation of the grasping and sorting device during vertical lifting. During the unfolding phase, the device can maintain a horizontal attitude to ensure that the eggs are stably supported during grasping. When the structure is folded, its asymmetric linkage layout drives the device to automatically and continuously change from a horizontal to a preset tilt angle, thus laying the structural foundation for subsequent gravity-guided delivery.

[0010] The power input element of the lifting device is a cylinder, which is fixed to the second mounting plate by an aluminum bracket. The output end of the cylinder is hinged to the movable ends of two connecting rods in the scissor device. The movable ends of the connecting rods form a translation pair with the second mounting plate through a slider guide assembly. Through the extension and retraction of the cylinder, the scissor device is driven to perform unfolding and folding actions, realizing the overall lifting and lowering while completing the device's attitude change from horizontal to tilted.

[0011] When the device reaches the preset tilt angle and the placement position via the aforementioned mechanism, the opening and closing baffle opens immediately. Guided by pure gravity, the egg slides naturally down the smooth inclined surface covered with cushioning material and precisely enters the corresponding washing tank. This coordinated operation method of "posture change - gravity guidance" completely avoids active placement actions that easily generate impact, such as mechanical pushing and throwing. Therefore, it structurally ensures a low breakage rate of eggs during high-speed sorting, which is one of the key technical features of this invention.

[0012] Furthermore, the grasping and sorting device is installed at the output end of the lifting device. Both the fixed and movable parts of the lifting device's output end are connected to the top of the grasping and sorting device. This device mainly includes an egg cage, an egg shovel, a separating device, and an opening / closing baffle device. The egg cage is welded from three stainless steel plates, forming a three-sided enclosed structure; the egg shovel consists of a C-shaped sheet metal shovel, a cylinder, and a linear guide slider. The linear guide guides the shovel, and the cylinder extends and retracts to drive the shovel to complete the egg-scooping action; the separating device consists of a servo motor and baffles; the opening / closing baffle device consists of a servo motor, a servo motor arm, and a gate-shaped slide. After the egg shovel scoops up the egg, the egg cage, shovel, and opening / closing baffle together enclose and support the egg. The space between the opening / closing baffle and the separating plate can accommodate four eggs.

[0013] Preferably, the asymmetrical design of the scissor device is reflected in the height difference between the hinges on both sides of its input end, and the different lengths of the two pairs of connecting rods. This structure ensures that the gripping and sorting device remains horizontal when the scissor device is unfolded, making it easy to grip the eggs; while when the device is folded, the gripping and sorting device is tilted at a certain angle relative to the working platform. At this time, the partition plate closes, the opening and closing baffle opens, and the eggs slide out under the action of gravity and fall into the washing tank.

[0014] Preferably, the separating device is used to control the release of only 4 eggs at a time. After the opening and closing baffle is closed, the separating plate opens, allowing the space to be filled with 4 eggs again, ensuring that the separating plate is in a blocking state each time the opening and closing baffle is opened.

[0015] Preferably, the egg shovel and the inner wall of the egg cage are covered with a flexible buffer layer.

[0016] Preferably, the three-position table has three positioning stations, which, with the middle position as the reference, can reach 90° to the left and right (with a deviation of ±5°), corresponding to the "grabbing station" (-90°±5°), "placement station 1" (0°±5°), and "placement station 2" (90°±5°). Its built-in magnetic switch can provide feedback on the position signal, realizing high-precision angle control.

[0017] This invention also provides a pneumatic control system and method for the automated equipment. Its core lies in coordinating the sequential actions of various pneumatic actuators through a programmable logic controller (PLC) and achieving closed-loop feedback control using position sensors (such as magnetic switches). The specific control process includes the following steps:

[0018] S1: System initialization: After the equipment is powered on, the PLC controller drives each actuator to reset to its initial position, that is, the translation device retracts to the origin, the rotation device is placed in the "grabbing position" (-90°), the lifting device rises to the highest point, the egg shovel in the grabbing and sorting device retracts, the separating device and the opening and closing baffle device close, and detects the signals of each position sensor, and alarms when there is an abnormality.

[0019] S2: Readiness Detection and Positioning: The photoelectric sensor or vision system detects whether there are eggs in the egg placement area. If there are, the rotating device holds or rotates to the "grabbing position" (-90°) to prepare for grabbing.

[0020] S3: Grabbing and Lifting: The lifting device extends, gradually leveling the grabbing and sorting device to the egg-retrieving height; the cylinder of the egg-shoveling device extends, driving the shovel to shovel the rows of eggs into the egg cage; after shoveling, the lifting device rises, raising the eggs to a safe height, and the grabbing and sorting device tilts.

[0021] S4: Translation and Rotation Positioning: The translation device drives the execution device to move horizontally above the corresponding area according to the position of the target cleaning tank; the rotation device drives the gripping and sorting device to rotate to the corresponding delivery station.

[0022] S5: Distribution and delivery: After arriving at the designated delivery point, the opening and closing baffle device opens and the separating device is in the blocking state, so that the first 4 eggs slide into the washing tank along the inclined surface under the action of gravity.

[0023] S6: Reset and Cycle: After a single delivery is completed, the opening and closing baffle device closes, the separating device opens to allow subsequent eggs to move forward and fill the sorting position; the rotating device rotates back to the "grabbing position" (-90°), the translation device returns to the initial position, and the system waits for the next grab signal, repeating steps S2 to S6.

[0024] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0025] 1. The present invention provides an automated equipment and control method for sorting and placing eggs before washing. By integrating translation, rotation, lifting and grasping sorting into an integrated structural design, it solves the problems of low efficiency and high hygiene risk of traditional manual sorting. It realizes the rapid, continuous and automated transfer of eggs from the stacking area to the washing tank, which significantly improves the operation efficiency of the egg pre-washing process and the automation level of the overall production line.

[0026] 2. The three-position swing stage cylinder is used to achieve three high-precision positioning positions of -90°, 0° and 90°, so that a single machine can flexibly correspond to multiple cleaning tanks or different process interfaces without repeated positioning or mechanical adjustment, which enhances the adaptability of equipment layout and the flexibility of task allocation.

[0027] 3. The core of this invention lies in the seamless integration of "posture transformation" and "gravity guidance." Through an asymmetrical scissor-type lifting device, the gripping device automatically transforms its posture from horizontal to inclined; and utilizing this inclined posture, the egg is gently and naturally guided by gravity to the target workstation. This mechanism has a simple structure and completely eliminates the risks of squeezing and collision caused by traditional robotic grippers or ejection devices, ensuring an extremely low egg breakage rate in principle.

[0028] 4. A composite drive strategy of "cylinder drive + servo motor precision control" is adopted: large stroke movements such as translation, rotation, and lifting are completed quickly by cylinders to ensure cycle efficiency; fine movements such as pushing, separating, and baffle opening and closing are controlled by servo motors, which takes into account both operating speed and operational flexibility.

[0029] 5. The gripping and sorting device adopts a modular and detachable design. Easily damaged or cleaning-required parts such as egg shovels, separators, and baffles can be quickly replaced and cleaned. All contact parts are covered with food-grade flexible cushioning material to eliminate hygiene dead corners and fully comply with the hygiene and safety standards of the food processing industry.

[0030] 6. The control system achieves closed-loop control of the entire process based on PLC and sensor feedback. It monitors the status of each actuator in real time through magnetic switches and position sensors, and can adaptively adjust according to process parameters such as egg size and feeding rhythm. While ensuring high-speed operation, it significantly reduces the egg jamming and breaking rate, meeting the requirements of continuous, stable and large-scale production.

[0031] 7. The machine has a compact structure, and the main power and actuator components are all standardized and industrialized. The pneumatic system is moisture-resistant and easy to maintain, and the electrical system has a clear layout and is easy to debug. While improving reliability, it reduces manufacturing and maintenance costs and has good promotion and application value. Attached Figure Description

[0032] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the overall structure of the egg pre-cleaning, sorting, and delivery equipment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 2 This is a complete schematic diagram of the rotating device, lifting device, and egg-grabbing device of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 3 This is an internal diagram of the gripping and sorting device in this invention.

[0035] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the three-position table moving to the initial work position in this invention.

[0036] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the three-position table moving to the "grabbing position" in this invention.

[0037] Figure 6 This is a frontal schematic diagram of the three-position placement platform in the present invention positioned at "placement position 1".

[0038] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the three-position placement platform in the present invention, positioned at "placement position 1".

[0039] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the three-position placement platform in the present invention, positioned at "placement position 2".

[0040] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the three-position placement platform in this invention, positioned at "placement position 3".

[0041] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating the sequence of the control method of the present invention.

[0042] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached drawings: 1. Working platform; 11. Egg placement area; 12. First egg washing tank; 13. Second egg washing tank; 14. Third egg washing tank; 2. Translation device; 21. Rodless cylinder; 22. First mounting plate; 3. Rotation device; 31. Three-position swing table cylinder; 32. Second mounting plate; 4. Lifting device; 41. Drive cylinder; 42. First connecting rod; 43. Second connecting rod; 44. Sliding guide rail assembly; 45. Support; 5. Gripping and sorting device; 51. Egg cage; 52. Egg shovel device; 521. C-shaped shovel; 522. Shovel drive cylinder; 523. Linear guide rail assembly; 53. Separating device; 531. Servo motor; 532. Separating baffle; 54. Opening and closing baffle device; 541. Servo motor; 542. Servo motor arm; 543. Gate-shaped baffle. Detailed Implementation

[0043] like Figure 1 As shown, the automated egg sorting and placement equipment provided by the present invention includes a working platform (1), a translation device (2), a rotation device (3), a lifting device (4), and a gripping and sorting device (5). The working platform (1) is provided with an egg placement area (11) and three egg washing tanks (12, 13, 14), which correspond to different washing lines.

[0044] The translation device (2) consists of a rodless cylinder (21) and a first mounting plate (22). Two sets of rodless cylinders (21) are mounted side by side upside down on the top of an aluminum profile frame fixed on the work platform (1). Their sliders are fixedly connected to the first mounting plate (22), which can realize long-distance linear positioning and conveying within the range of 0 to 1000 mm.

[0045] The rotating device (3) consists of a three-position swing stage cylinder (31) and a second mounting plate (32). The three-position swing stage cylinder (31) is installed in an inverted manner below the first mounting plate (22), and its output flange is connected to the second mounting plate (32). Figures 4-9 As shown, the three-position swing stage cylinder has three precise positioning stations, namely "Placement Station 1" (Grabbing Station 1) (-90°±5°), "Placement Station 2" (0°±5°) and "Placement Station 3" (90°±5°). Each station is fed back by a built-in magnetic switch to achieve high-precision angle control.

[0046] The lifting device (4) is a lifting device based on an asymmetric single-stage scissor structure, including a drive cylinder (41), a first connecting rod (42), a second connecting rod (43), a slider guide rail assembly (44), and an output mounting plate (45). The drive cylinder (41) is fixed to the second mounting plate (32) by an aluminum support, and the end of its piston rod is hinged to the movable end of the first connecting rod (42); the movable end of the first connecting rod (42) is horizontally guided to the second mounting plate (32) by the slider guide rail assembly (44); the output end of the scissor device is connected to the gripping and sorting device (5) by the support (45), and the lifting stroke is 0-120mm.

[0047] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the grasping and sorting device (5) includes an egg cage (51), an egg shovel device (52), a separating device (53), and an opening and closing baffle device (54). The egg cage (51) is a three-sided enclosed structure welded from three stainless steel plates, with a food-grade silicone buffer layer attached to the inner wall; the egg shovel device (52) includes a C-shaped shovel plate (521), a shovel plate drive cylinder (522), and a linear guide rail assembly (523), and the shovel plate drive cylinder (522) drives the shovel plate to complete the overall shoveling of the eggs along the guide rail; the separating device (53) consists of a servo motor (531) and a separating baffle (532), used to control the number of eggs released each time; the opening and closing baffle device (54) consists of a servo motor (541), a servo motor arm (542), and a gate-shaped baffle (543), realizing the opening and closing of the delivery port.

[0048] The workflow of this equipment is as follows (in conjunction with...) Figure 10 (as shown)

[0049] S1: System initialization: After the equipment is powered on, the PLC controller drives each actuator to reset to its initial position, that is, the translation device (2) retracts to the origin, the rotation device (3) is placed in the "grabbing position" (-90°), the lifting device (4) rises to the highest point, the egg shovel device (52) in the grabbing and sorting device (5) retracts, the separation device (53) and the opening and closing baffle device (54) close, and detect the signals of each position sensor, and alarm when abnormal;

[0050] S2: Readiness detection and positioning: The photoelectric sensor or vision system detects whether there are eggs in the egg placement area. If there are, the rotating device (3) holds or rotates to the "grabbing position" (-90°) to prepare for grabbing.

[0051] S3: Grabbing and lifting: The lifting device (4) stretches, so that the grabbing and sorting device (5) gradually becomes horizontal and reaches the egg picking height; the cylinder of the egg shovel device (52) extends, driving the shovel plate to shovel the row of eggs into the egg cage (51); after the shovel is completed, the lifting device (4) rises, lifting the eggs to a safe height, and the grabbing and sorting device (5) tilts.

[0052] S4: Translation and rotation positioning: The translation device (2) drives the execution device to move horizontally above the corresponding area according to the position of the target cleaning tank; the rotation device (3) moves to drive the gripping and sorting device (5) to rotate to the corresponding delivery station;

[0053] S5: Distribution and placement: After reaching the designated placement point, the opening and closing baffle device (54) is opened, and the separating device (53) is in the blocking state, so that the first 4 eggs slide into the washing tank along the inclined surface under the action of gravity.

[0054] S6: Reset and Cycle: After a single delivery is completed, the opening and closing baffle device (54) closes, the separating device (53) opens to allow subsequent eggs to move forward and fill the sorting position; the rotating device (3) turns back to the "grabbing position" (-90°), the translation device (2) returns to the initial position, the system waits for the next grab signal, and repeats steps S2 to S6.

[0055] The entire control process adopts a PLC-based closed-loop control strategy, with key action segments implementing slow start and stop, and the feeding parameters can be adaptively adjusted according to the size of the eggs to ensure efficient and low-breakage operation.

[0056] The equipment described in this embodiment mainly adopts standard pneumatic components and electrical modules, with a compact structure, fast response, and simple maintenance. It is suitable for the automated pre-cleaning and sorting process in poultry and egg processing enterprises and has high practicality and promotion value.

[0057] It should be understood that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to limit it. Without departing from the concept of the present invention, those skilled in the art can make various equivalent adjustments or modifications to the specific structure and control parameters, and these adjustments or modifications should also be considered to fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automated egg sorting and delivery system and control method based on attitude transformation and gravity guidance, comprising a working platform (1), a translation device (2), a rotating device (3), a lifting device (4), and a gripping and sorting device (5); the translation device (2) is installed on an aluminum profile frame fixed on the working platform (1); the rotating device (3) is installed below the translation device (2) in an inverted hanging manner; the input end of the lifting device (4) is connected to the rotating device (3), and the output end is connected to the gripping and sorting device (5); the gripping and sorting device (5) includes an egg cage (51), an egg shovel device (52), a separator device (53), and an opening and closing baffle device (54), used to realize the gripping, temporary storage, and directional delivery of eggs; Its control methods include the following processes: S1: System initialization: After the equipment is powered on, the PLC controller drives each actuator to reset to its initial position, that is, the translation device (2) retracts to the origin, the rotation device (3) is placed in the "grabbing position" (-90°), the lifting device (4) rises to the highest point, the egg shovel device (52) in the grabbing and sorting device (5) retracts, the separation device (53) and the opening and closing baffle device (54) close, and detect the signals of each position sensor, and alarm when abnormal; S2: Readiness detection and positioning: The photoelectric sensor or vision system detects whether there are eggs in the egg placement area. If there are, the rotating device (3) holds or rotates to the "grabbing position" (-90°) to prepare for grabbing. S3: Grabbing and Lifting: The lifting device (4) descends, causing the grabbing and sorting device (5) to reach the egg-grabbing height; the cylinder of the egg shovel device (52) extends, driving the shovel to shovel the rows of eggs into the egg cage (51); after shoveling, the lifting device (4) rises, lifting the eggs to a safe height. S4: Translation and rotation positioning: The translation device (2) drives the execution device to move horizontally above the corresponding area according to the position of the target cleaning tank; the rotation device (3) moves to drive the gripping and sorting device (5) to rotate to the corresponding delivery station; S5: Posture adjustment and sorting: During the folding process of the lifting device, the grabbing and sorting device (5) gradually changes from horizontal to inclined due to the action of the asymmetrical scissor device; the opening and closing baffle device (54) opens, and the separating device (53) is in the blocking state, so that the first 4 eggs slide into the washing tank along the inclined surface under the action of gravity. S6: Reset and Cycle: After a single delivery is completed, the opening and closing baffle device (54) closes, the separating device (53) opens to allow subsequent eggs to move forward and fill the sorting position; the rotating device (3) turns back to the "grabbing position" (-90°), the translation device (2) returns to the initial position, the system waits for the next grab signal, and repeats steps S2 to S6.

2. The automated equipment and control method for sorting and placing eggs before washing, as described in claim 1, is characterized in that, The translation device (2) consists of a rodless cylinder (21) and a first mounting plate (22). The rodless cylinder (21) is installed upside down on the top of the aluminum profile frame, and its output end is connected to the first mounting plate (22). The rotation device (3) consists of a three-position swing cylinder (31) and a second mounting plate (32). The swing cylinder (31) is installed upside down below the first mounting plate (22), and its output end is connected to the second mounting plate (32).

3. The automated equipment and control method for sorting and placing eggs before washing, as described in claim 1, is characterized in that... The lifting device (4) is an asymmetric single-stage scissor-type lifting device, including a cylinder (41), a first connecting rod (42), a second connecting rod (43), a slider guide rail assembly (44), and an output mounting plate (45); the cylinder (41) is fixed to the second mounting plate (32), and its output end is hinged to the movable end of the first connecting rod (42); the movable end of the first connecting rod (42) is connected to the second mounting plate (32) through the slider guide rail assembly (44); the output end of the scissor device is connected to the gripping and sorting device (5) through the output mounting plate (45).

4. The automated equipment and control method for sorting and placing eggs before washing, as described in claim 1, is characterized in that... In the gripping and sorting device (5), the egg shovel device (52) includes a C-shaped shovel plate (521), a shovel plate cylinder (522), and a linear guide rail (523); the separating device (53) includes a servo motor (531) and a separating baffle (532); the opening and closing baffle device (54) includes a servo motor (541), a servo motor arm (542), and a gate-shaped baffle (543).

5. The automated equipment and control method for sorting and placing eggs before washing, as described in claim 1, is characterized in that, In step S5, the falling speed of the lifting device (4) is controlled by slow start and slow stop; the timing of the actions of the separating device (53) and the opening and closing baffle device (54) is adaptively adjusted according to the size of the eggs and the batch of eggs.

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