Quality inspection production line for oil nozzles and spark plugs

Abstract

The invention provides a quality inspection production line for oil nozzles and spark plugs. The quality inspection production line comprises a main machine conveying roller way serving as a core conveying line. The feeding device is arranged at the inlet end of the main machine conveying roller way and used for supplying materials to a main line. And the cleaning and positioning device is arranged on the main machine conveying roller way, is positioned at a station at the downstream of the feeding device, and is used for accurately positioning the workpiece and blowing and cleaning the workpiece. According to the invention, four functional modules of feeding, accurate positioning and cleaning, parallel visual inspection and intelligent sorting are highly integrated on an automatic conveying line, a full-closed-loop quality inspection system is constructed, and full-automatic and integrated quality inspection and sorting of the engine cylinder head oil nozzle and the spark plug hole are realized; the problems of slow rhythm, poor positioning reliability, different standards and difficult data tracing caused by traditional multi-device sorting or manual operation are thoroughly solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of intelligent manufacturing, the quality monitoring requirements for engine production lines are becoming increasingly stringent. For the quality inspection of critical fuel injector and spark plug holes on the cylinder head, existing technical solutions are mostly decentralized or semi-automated. Decentralized solutions refer to fuel injector and spark plug inspections being completed serially by manual handling on two separate machines, which has inherent drawbacks such as large footprint, long production cycle time, high labor intensity, and difficulty in unified data management. Some semi-automated production lines that attempt integration are often simply physical combinations of multiple functional single machines, failing to achieve deep system integration and collaborative control. These systems share the following common defects: First, poor coordination between functional modules (such as feeding, cleaning, inspection of different hole positions, and sorting) results in significant waiting time, low overall efficiency, and difficulty in overcoming production cycle time bottlenecks (e.g., reducing it to within 35 seconds). Second, a lack of system-level fault tolerance and safety design; for example, the positioning status of the cleaning station is not a mandatory prerequisite for starting the inspection station, posing a safety hazard. Furthermore, the system lacks self-maintenance capabilities and cannot achieve periodic self-calibration through an integrated standard sample library, making it prone to accuracy drift over long-term operation. In summary, existing technologies lack a complete quality inspection production line solution that deeply integrates functional modules such as material feeding, precise positioning and cleaning, parallel visual inspection, intelligent sorting, and self-calibration, and achieves efficient, safe, and stable collaborative operation through a central control system. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The invention provides a quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs, which can effectively solve the above problems.

[0004] The invention was achieved as follows: A quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs, including... The main conveyor roller conveyor of the core conveyor line; A feeding device is installed at the inlet end of the main conveyor roller conveyor and is used to feed materials to the main line; A cleaning and positioning device is installed on the main conveyor roller conveyor at a station downstream of the feeding device, and is used to accurately position and clean the workpiece with air. A parallel detection device is set at a station on the main conveyor roller conveyor downstream of the cleaning positioning device, including a fuel injector detection assembly and a spark plug detection assembly arranged in parallel. The sorting and output device is located at the exit end of the main conveyor roller conveyor and is used to receive and sort workpieces from the parallel inspection device.

[0005] The beneficial effects of the invention are: (1) This invention integrates four major functional modules—feeding, precise positioning and cleaning, parallel visual inspection and intelligent sorting—onto an automated conveyor line, thus constructing a fully closed-loop quality inspection system. This system enables fully automatic and integrated quality inspection and sorting of engine cylinder head injectors and spark plug holes, completely solving the technical problems of slow cycle time, poor positioning reliability, inconsistent standards and difficulty in data traceability caused by traditional multi-equipment sorting or manual operation. Attached Figure Description

[0006] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the invention, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the invention and should not be regarded as a limitation of the scope. For those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0007] Figure 1 This is the front view of the present invention.

[0008] Figure 2 This is the present invention. Figure 1 A partial method diagram of A in the middle.

[0009] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the fuel injector detection component of the present invention.

[0010] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the OK turntable of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 5 This is the present invention. Figure 4 A magnified view of part C.

[0012] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the cleaning mechanism of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 7 This is the present invention. Figure 6 A magnified view of part of D. Detailed Implementation

[0014] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the invention, not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the invention. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely to represent selected embodiments of the invention.

[0015] In the description of the invention, 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 indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the invention, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0016] Reference Figure 1-7 As shown, a quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs is provided. The entire perimeter of the production line is equipped with a protective fence 80, including... The main conveyor roller 904 is the core conveyor line; the drive system of the main conveyor roller 904 includes a power shaft, a bevel gear transmission pair and a chain drive mechanism, and the roller is divided into multiple power sections independently controlled by the system electrical control cabinet 10.

[0017] The main conveyor roller conveyor 904 serves as the main conveyor line. High-strength aluminum profiles are used as the mounting base on both sides, and the bottom of the profiles is supported by I-beams to ensure overall rigidity. Multiple free rollers and powered rollers are installed side-by-side inside the profiles. The drive system is located on one side of the roller conveyor and includes a motor-driven power shaft. Multiple bevel gears (preferably made of 45# steel with carburizing and quenching treatment, and a precision of not less than grade 7) are fixedly mounted on this shaft. Each powered roller is also equipped with a bevel gear at its end. Through meshing with the bevel gears on the power shaft, power is transmitted to each roller, achieving synchronous rotation. The motor and power shaft are connected by a chain and sprocket, and the chain tension is adjustable. Furthermore, all powered roller surfaces are covered with a polyurethane rubber layer to increase friction and prevent scratches on the workpiece surface.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, to achieve precise positioning and cycle control, the main conveyor roller 904 is divided into at least three power sections under the control of the electrical control cabinet 10: a feeding section, a cleaning / inspection section, and a discharging section. Each power section is driven by an independent servo motor and equipped with at least one pair of through-beam photoelectric sensors for detecting the workpiece position. The electrical control cabinet 10 can independently control the start and stop of any power section according to the status of each station. For example, when the cleaning station completes the workpiece positioning, the electrical control cabinet 10 will control the feeding section to pause operation until the workpiece is inspected and leaves the cleaning / inspection section, thereby achieving precise start and stop of the workpiece at a specific station and cycle optimization.

[0019] The feeding device is located at the inlet end of the main conveyor roller conveyor 904 and is used to feed materials to the main line. The feeding device includes a feeding turntable 20 and a standard sample storage 30. The outlet ends of the feeding turntable 20 and the standard sample storage 30 are connected to the inlet section of the main conveyor roller conveyor 904.

[0020] The feeding turntable 20 is used to receive and rotate the conveyor of workpieces. The feeding turntable 20 includes a bottom frame 500, a rotating mechanism 502 driven by a power cylinder 508, a rotary table 504 mounted on the bottom frame 500, and a roller conveyor line 506 integrated into the rotary table surface. The bottom frame 500 is constructed of aluminum profiles and is equipped with casters and adjustable feet. The main conveyor roller conveyor has its inlet end connected to the outlet end of the feeding turntable 20 and is used to carry and transport workpieces. The main conveyor roller conveyor is equipped with a feeding blocking mechanism and a scanning blocking mechanism driven by cylinders before and after the barcode scanning station. The drive system of the main conveyor roller conveyor includes a power shaft driven by a motor through a chain and multiple power rollers that mesh with the power shaft through a bevel gear pair. The main conveyor roller conveyor is divided into multiple power sections independently controlled by the electrical control cabinet 10.

[0021] Specifically, the bottom frame 500 of the feeding turntable 20 is constructed using standard 8080 aluminum profiles and internal connectors via corner brackets. The bottom of the frame is not directly fixed to the ground, but is equipped with universal casters with brakes and stainless steel threaded adjustable feet at the four corners or key support points. When the layout of upstream process equipment changes or the entire line needs adjustment, the adjustable feet can be loosened, and the universal casters can be used to easily move the entire feeding turntable 20 to the new docking position. Afterward, tightening the adjustable feet will support and level the equipment, thus completing the position adjustment.

[0022] Furthermore, the stainless steel threaded adjusting feet provide a height adjustment range of more than ±50mm. They can be slightly turned with a wrench to precisely match the height difference between the main conveyor roller and the upstream equipment conveyor line, ensuring a smooth transition of the workpiece conveying plane and avoiding the risk of workpiece jamming or tipping over due to height mismatch.

[0023] Furthermore, the core driving element of the rotating mechanism 502 is a standard-stroke power cylinder 508. The cylinder body is fixed to the bottom frame 500 via a hinge, and the end of its piston rod is connected to the drive point at the bottom of the rotary table 504 via a high-strength fisheye joint. At the 0° (receiving position) and 90° (feeding position) endpoints of the rotary table 504's rotation trajectory, insurmountable mechanical hard limit blocks (such as quenched steel limit bolts) are respectively set. Regardless of whether the upstream process's conveyor line is parallel, perpendicular, or at any angle pointing towards the rotary table, the workpiece is first received by the rotary table at the 0° position. Then, the power cylinder 508 extends or retracts, driving the rotary table 504 to rotate. The mechanical hard limit block ensures that it stops precisely at the 90° feeding position. This process unifies any feeding direction to be completely consistent with the direction of the main conveyor roller, realizing the normalization of the flow direction at the physical level. Moreover, the use of cylinder drive combined with mechanical hard limit is simple in structure, fast in action, low in cost and extremely reliable. It avoids the solution of using servo motors and complex control systems to achieve precise positioning. While meeting functional requirements, it achieves the optimal balance between cost and reliability.

[0024] The sorting and output device is located at the exit end of the main conveyor roller 904 and is used to receive and sort workpieces from the parallel inspection device; and a system electrical control cabinet 10 is electrically connected to the main conveyor roller 904, the feeding device, the cleaning and positioning device, the parallel inspection device and the sorting and output device; the sorting and output device includes an OK turntable 50, an NG turntable 40, an OK roller 60 connected to the OK turntable 50 and an NG roller 70 connected to the NG turntable 40.

[0025] Furthermore, the table surface of the rotary table 504 is not a flat plate, but integrates a set of roller conveyor lines 506 with the same specifications, pitch, and height as the main conveyor rollers. This roller line has an independent power system (such as a small motor drive). The roller surface of the rollers and the roller surface of the main conveyor rollers maintain a height difference of less than 1mm at the docking point, forming a continuous rolling support surface. When the rotary table 504 rotates to the position, its table roller line 506 and the roller line of the main conveyor rollers together form a continuous conveying plane without steps or gaps. Under the drive of the motor, the workpiece smoothly and without impact transitions from one roller surface to another, completely avoiding the workpiece bottom scratches, jamming, or posture changes caused by gaps or height differences in traditional docking methods, ensuring the smoothness of the feeding process and the stability of the workpiece state.

[0026] It also includes a standard sample library 30, whose outlet is connected to the inlet section of the main machine conveyor roller conveyor, used to provide standard workpieces. The standard sample library 30 includes an overall frame, a servo screw module, and a multi-layer standard sample conveyor assembly. Under the control of the electrical control cabinet 10, the servo screw module inside the standard sample library 30 can accurately position itself to a designated layer of the multi-layer standard sample conveyor assembly and retrieve the standard workpiece. When the system triggers a self-calibration cycle, the standard workpiece is automatically fed into the main machine conveyor roller conveyor, just like an ordinary workpiece, and undergoes a complete testing process. This achieves full automation of the calibration work, eliminating the need for manual handling of standard samples and ensuring the long-term stability of equipment performance and uninterrupted production.

[0027] A barcode scanning mechanism, located next to the entrance section of the main conveyor roller conveyor, is used to identify workpiece identity information. An electrical control cabinet 10, electrically connected to the feeding turntable 20, the main conveyor roller conveyor, and the barcode scanning mechanism, coordinates the feeding action and information binding. Upon receiving a successful identification signal from the barcode scanning mechanism, the electrical control cabinet 10 controls the workpiece to be conveyed to subsequent workstations. After successful identification, the electrical control cabinet 10 creates a unique data identifier for the workpiece, which remains throughout the entire quality inspection process. This identifier is linked in real-time to the status data of subsequent cleaning workstations, the image and result data of inspection workstations, and the final judgment data of sorting workstations, achieving full-process traceability from 'a single workpiece' to 'a complete data archive'.

[0028] A cleaning and positioning device is installed on the main conveyor roller 904 at a station downstream of the feeding device. It is used for precise positioning and air cleaning of the workpiece. The cleaning and positioning device includes a group of positioning mechanisms, including a lifting positioning mechanism 40, two side positioning mechanisms, a front positioning mechanism, and an airtight positioning mechanism 50; and a robot air blowing structure 30, which is used to clean the workpiece after it has been positioned by the group of positioning mechanisms. The airtight positioning mechanism 50 is integrated into the top positioning block of the lifting positioning mechanism 40. It has air holes inside and is connected to an air pressure sensor through a pipeline. The end air blowing nozzle of the robot air blowing structure 30 is equipped with a spring buffer structure 304 and an alignment sensing switch 302.

[0029] Specifically, after the workpiece enters the cleaning station, the drive cylinder of the front positioning mechanism first actuates, extending its stop block to precisely block the workpiece's movement in the conveying direction (Y-axis). Immediately afterwards, the two drive cylinders of the side positioning mechanisms receive synchronization signals and move synchronously and at equal speed towards each other from the left and right sides of the workpiece. Their V-shaped or flat clamping blocks contact the sides of the workpiece and apply a preset clamping force (e.g., 300N), thereby eliminating the workpiece's degrees of freedom in the X-axis direction and rotation in the horizontal plane. The electric cylinder drive ensures stable and controllable positioning speed and force. After horizontal positioning is completed, the lifting positioning mechanism 40 begins operation. This mechanism consists of a servo motor-driven high-precision ball screw module, achieving a repeatability of ±0.02mm. The servo module drives the top positioning block to move vertically upwards, smoothly lifting the workpiece off the surface of the main conveyor rollers, completing precise positioning in the Z-axis. This ensures that the workpiece is lifted to the same detection reference height each time. Furthermore, the robot blowing structure 30 consists of a robotic arm 300 and an air nozzle at the end. A spring buffer structure 304 is provided at the root of the air nozzle. When the robotic arm 300 has a slight positioning deviation that causes the air nozzle to accidentally contact the workpiece, this structure can provide buffering and avoid damage to the workpiece or the air nozzle from a hard collision. At the same time, an inductive switch (302, such as an infrared proximity switch) is installed next to the air nozzle. When the robotic arm moves the air nozzle close to the workpiece detection hole, the signal will only be fed back to the PLC when the inductive switch detects that the distance between the air nozzle and the hole is within the preset precise alignment range (such as 2±0.5mm). After receiving the alignment success signal, the PLC immediately triggers the solenoid valve to open and performs a short (such as 0.5 seconds) but strong high-pressure purging. This "blow only when in position" logic ensures that the compressed air is used most efficiently to remove residual coolant or metal debris in the hole, avoiding energy waste and incomplete cleaning caused by blind blowing.

[0030] Furthermore, the robotic air blowing structure 30 can also integrate an adaptive cleaning unit, which consists of one or more of a micro-differential pressure sensor, a flow monitor, and an acoustic pickup, together with the processing algorithm within the electrical control cabinet 10. The following embodiments are included: Example 1 (Based on Flow Resistance Monitoring): A micro differential pressure sensor is integrated inside the air nozzle. When the air nozzle is aligned with the detection hole and air blowing begins, the sensor detects the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the air nozzle. The control cabinet 10 reads this pressure difference value in real time. If the pressure difference value rises rapidly and remains high at the beginning of air blowing, it indicates that the air path is unobstructed, and there may be large foreign particles in the hole. If the pressure difference value remains low, it may mean that the air nozzle is not fully aligned or that the hole itself is a through hole, resulting in serious gas leakage. The control cabinet 10 can dynamically adjust the duration of this air blowing according to a preset pressure difference-time model. For example, for holes with high air resistance, the air blowing time is automatically extended by 0.2 seconds to ensure that stubborn impurities are blown away.

[0031] Example 2 (Based on Audio Feedback): A high-frequency acoustic pickup (microphone) is installed near the air nozzle to collect the sound signal generated during air blowing. The electrical control cabinet 10 has pre-stored the acoustic signature characteristics (mainly high-frequency airflow sound) of the normal cleaning state. When air blowing begins, the system performs real-time acoustic signature comparison. If a specific low-frequency friction or impact sound is identified in the airflow sound, it can be determined that particulate matter is being blown out and colliding with the hole wall. When this abnormal sound signal disappears, the system can determine that the hole has been cleaned and immediately terminate the air blowing, instead of mechanically waiting for a fixed air blowing time to end, thereby achieving energy saving and optimizing the cycle.

[0032] Through the aforementioned adaptive strategy, the cleaning mechanism of this invention can be upgraded from simple 'execution' to an intelligent closed loop of 'perception-decision-execution', providing personalized cleaning solutions for the actual conditions of each hole, thereby further improving cleaning efficiency and economy while ensuring cleaning quality.

[0033] A parallel inspection device is installed on the main conveyor roller 904 at a station downstream of the cleaning positioning device. It includes a fuel injector inspection assembly and a spark plug inspection assembly arranged in parallel. The fuel injector inspection assembly in the parallel inspection device includes a first robotic arm 900 and an endoscope probe 9008 with a pressure sensor 9006 installed at its end. The spark plug inspection assembly includes a second robotic arm 902 and a vision lens and a light source installed at its end.

[0034] Specifically, the fuel injector detection assembly consists of a first robotic arm 900 (such as a six-axis industrial robot) and a fuel injector detection component mounted at its end. An endoscope probe 9008 is mounted on the detection end face of a pressure sensor 9006 via a special tooling. When the robotic arm moves the probe into the fuel injector hole, the pressure sensor 9006 monitors the contact force in real time. Once the force exceeds a preset safety threshold, the electrical control cabinet 10 immediately sends a stop or retraction command to the first robotic arm 900, effectively preventing probe damage. The spark plug detection assembly consists of a second robotic arm 902 and a spark plug detection component mounted at its end. The lens is mounted via a guide rod assembly with a locking mechanism, allowing for manual height fine-tuning to ensure the optimal focusing distance. The light source is a ring-shaped LED light source, providing uniform and shadowless illumination to the spark plug hole end face.

[0035] The feeding device, cleaning and positioning device, parallel detection device and sorting and output device are arranged in sequence along the main conveyor roller 904 with a total length of 5000 to 7000 mm and a width of 3000 to 4000 mm.

[0036] Working principle: The workpiece is first received by the feed turntable 20, which has flexible steering and height adjustment functions, and then uniformly turned before being sent into the main conveyor roller 904. After the identification information is bound by the scanning mechanism, the segmented driven roller 904 is controlled by the electrical control cabinet 10 to accurately transport the workpiece to the cleaning and positioning device. Here, the workpiece is first coarsely positioned and clamped by the front and side positioning mechanisms, and then precisely positioned by the lifting positioning mechanism 40. The integrated airtight positioning mechanism 50 performs safety verification. Only after receiving the positioning confirmation signal can the robot blowing structure 30 perform precise positioning of the detection hole under the protection of the alignment induction switch 302 and the spring buffer structure 304. The system employs adaptive high-pressure cleaning. After cleaning, the workpiece enters a parallel inspection device, where the first robotic arm 900 and the second robotic arm 902, protected by the anti-collision device of the pressure sensor 9006, perform synchronous visual inspection of the fuel injector hole and spark plug hole, respectively. Finally, all inspection data is collected in the electrical control cabinet 10) for comprehensive judgment, and the OK / NG turntable 50 / 40 of the sorting output device is controlled to sort the workpiece to the corresponding outflow channel, thus forming a fully automatic, high-cycle, and highly reliable quality inspection closed loop. During this process, the standard sample library 30) automatically calls standard workpieces to perform a self-calibration process according to instructions to ensure the long-term inspection accuracy of the system.

[0037] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention. Various modifications and variations are possible for those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the spirit and principles of the invention should be included within the scope of protection of the invention.

Claims

1. A quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs, characterized in that, include The main conveyor roller conveyor (904) of the core conveyor line. A feeding device is installed at the inlet end of the main conveyor roller conveyor (904) for feeding materials to the main line; A cleaning and positioning device is installed on the main conveyor roller (904) at a station downstream of the feeding device, for precise positioning and air cleaning of the workpiece; A parallel detection device is set on the main machine conveyor roller (904) at a station downstream of the cleaning positioning device, including a fuel injector detection assembly and a spark plug detection assembly arranged in parallel. The sorting output device is located at the exit end of the main conveyor roller (904) and is used to receive and sort workpieces from the parallel inspection device.

2. The quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 1, characterized in that, The feeding device includes a feeding turntable (20) and a standard sample storage (30), and the discharge ends of the feeding turntable (20) and the standard sample storage (30) are connected to the inlet section of the main conveyor roller conveyor (904).

3. The quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cleaning positioning device includes a group of positioning mechanisms, comprising a lifting positioning mechanism (40), two side positioning mechanisms, a front positioning mechanism, and an airtight positioning mechanism (50); and a robot air blowing structure (30) for cleaning the workpiece after it has been positioned by the group of positioning mechanisms by blowing air.

4. The quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 3, characterized in that, The airtight positioning mechanism (50) is integrated into the top positioning block of the lifting positioning mechanism (40), and has an air hole inside and is connected to a pressure sensor through a pipeline.

5. The quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fuel injector detection assembly in the parallel detection device includes a first robotic arm (900) and an endoscope probe (9008) with a pressure sensor (9006) mounted at its end; the spark plug detection assembly includes a second robotic arm (902) and a vision lens and a light source mounted at its end.

6. The quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sorting output device includes an OK turntable (50), an NG turntable (40), an OK roller conveyor (60) connected to the OK turntable (50), and an NG roller conveyor (70) connected to the NG turntable (40).

7. The quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 1, characterized in that, The drive system of the main conveyor roller (904) includes a power shaft, a bevel gear transmission pair and a chain drive mechanism, and the roller is divided into multiple power sections independently controlled by the system control cabinet (10).

8. The quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 1, characterized in that, The end nozzle of the robot blowing structure (30) is provided with a spring buffer structure (304) and a positioning induction switch (302).

9. A quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 1, characterized in that, The production line is surrounded by a protective fence (80).

10. A quality inspection production line for fuel injectors and spark plugs according to claim 1, characterized in that, The total length of the feeding device, cleaning and positioning device, parallel detection device and sorting and output device arranged sequentially along the main conveyor roller (904) is 5000 to 7000 mm and the width is 3000 to 4000 mm.

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