Feeding device, method, system and automatic feeding and unloading method

Abstract

The present application relates to a kind of feeding device, method, system and automatic feeding and discharging method.The feeding device includes feeding tank and multiple trays;Feeding tank includes box, lifting assembly, material taking assembly and first sensor, box is provided with accommodating cavity, tray is stacked in accommodating cavity bottom wall along vertical direction, accommodating cavity has sequentially distributed feeding position along vertical direction from top to bottom and multiple tray positions corresponding to each tray one by one;Lifting assembly is arranged in accommodating cavity and is used to drive material taking assembly to move along vertical direction, material taking assembly is used to carry or unload corresponding tray, first sensor is arranged in box and is used to control lifting assembly to stop rising after detecting that material taking assembly rises to feeding position;By the positioning effect of feeding position and the relative control of preset parameter, reliable positioning is realized with lower hardware cost, and the difficulty of material taking and system cost are reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the technical field of automated production systems, and in particular to a feeding device, method, system, and automatic loading and unloading method. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of high-temperature intelligent preparation and automation, traditional manual operations pose risks of burns and efficiency bottlenecks, making automated material feeding a trend.

[0003] While some existing automated feeding systems can replace some human labor, the existence of material and tray stacking errors results in a lack of a unified physical positioning benchmark when picking up materials. Additional position correction actions (such as visual compensation or fine-tuning) are required, which seriously restricts the reliability of the feeding cycle and requires high-cost compensation algorithms.

[0004] Some automated feeding systems use positioning devices to physically locate materials and trays to reduce the difficulty of picking up materials. However, such positioning devices require the deployment of sensors or limiting structures in multiple locations and directions, which significantly increases hardware costs and maintenance difficulty. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to address the current problem of lack of positioning or high positioning costs in automatic feeding systems by providing a feeding device, method, system, and automatic loading and unloading method that can achieve tray positioning at a lower cost.

[0006] This application firstly discloses a feeding device, including a feeding box and multiple feeding trays;

[0007] The feeding box includes a box body, a lifting assembly, a material picking assembly, and a first sensor. The box body has a receiving cavity. The material trays are stacked vertically on the bottom wall of the receiving cavity. The receiving cavity has feeding positions distributed vertically from top to bottom and multiple material tray positions corresponding to each of the material trays.

[0008] The lifting assembly is disposed within the accommodating cavity and is used to drive the material picking assembly to move vertically. The material picking assembly is used to pick up or unload the corresponding material tray. The first sensor is disposed within the housing and is used to control the lifting assembly to stop rising after detecting that the material picking assembly has risen to the feeding position.

[0009] A second aspect of this application provides a feeding method applicable to the aforementioned feeding device, comprising the following steps:

[0010] a. The lifting component drives the material handling component to rise;

[0011] b. After the first sensor detects that the material handling component has risen to the material supply position, it controls the lifting component to stop rising;

[0012] c. The lifting component drives the material handling component to descend to the corresponding material tray position according to preset parameters;

[0013] d. The material handling component is equipped with the material tray;

[0014] e. The lifting component drives the material handling component and the corresponding material tray to rise;

[0015] f. After the first sensor detects that the material handling component has risen to the material supply position, it controls the lifting component to stop rising;

[0016] g. The material handling component unloads the material tray;

[0017] h. Repeat step cg until the preset parameters are executed;

[0018] The preset parameters include n descending amounts D1 to Dn arranged in sequence, where n is the number of material trays, Dx is the distance between the x-th material tray position and the feeding position from top to bottom in the vertical direction, and x is any positive integer between 1 and n.

[0019] In one embodiment, the top of the tray is provided with a positioning pin, and the bottom is provided with a positioning groove in the vertical direction. In the stacked state, there is a gap between the upper and lower trays.

[0020] In one embodiment, the material handling assembly includes a material handling seat, a first driving member, and a telescopic member. The material handling seat is fixed to the lifting end of the lifting assembly, and the telescopic member is slidably connected to the material handling seat. One end of the first driving member is fixed to the material handling seat, and the other end is connected to the telescopic member. The first driving member is used to drive the telescopic member to extend into the bottom gap of the material tray to pick up the material tray, or to drive the telescopic member to retract from the bottom gap of the material tray to unload the material tray.

[0021] In one embodiment, the first driving component is a telescopic cylinder, the telescopic component has a slot, the telescopic end of the telescopic cylinder is engaged in the slot, and the engaged portion of the telescopic end has gaps with the inner wall of the slot on both the telescopic direction side and the side perpendicular to the telescopic direction side.

[0022] In one embodiment, the preset parameters satisfy: dx < Dx < dx + a, where dx is the distance between the bottom surface of the x-th material tray from top to bottom along the vertical direction and the feeding position, and a is the gap distance between two adjacent material trays.

[0023] A third aspect of this application provides a feeding system, including at least one AGV trolley, at least one picking device, and multiple feeding devices. The accommodating cavity has a trolley cavity extending downwards, and both the accommodating cavity and the trolley cavity open forwards. The AGV trolley includes a trolley body and a pallet that is vertically mounted on the top of the trolley body. The bottom wall of the accommodating cavity is located between the highest and lowest travel of the pallet. The picking device is used to remove the tray from the feeding position of each feeding device.

[0024] In one embodiment, the feeding device further includes a tray carrier for supporting each of the trays. The tray carrier is placed on the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity and has positioning holes at the bottom. The top of the tray is provided with positioning protrusions corresponding to each of the positioning holes.

[0025] In one embodiment, positioning blocks are symmetrically fixed on the left and right sides of the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity. The top surface of the positioning block includes a planar segment located near the center of the box in the left-right direction and an inclined segment connected to the planar segment and located away from the center of the box. The inclined segment is inclined upward in the left-right direction away from the center of the box. The material tray carrier is placed on the planar segment, and the length of the material tray carrier in the left-right direction is equal to the distance between the left and right ends of the two planar segments.

[0026] In one embodiment, the feeding device further includes a second sensor disposed on the rear inner wall of the receiving cavity, and the position of the second sensor is lower than the bottom wall of the receiving cavity. The second sensor is used to send a signal to the AGV after detecting the pallet.

[0027] The fourth aspect of this application provides an automatic loading and unloading method applicable to an automatic loading and unloading system. The automatic loading and unloading system includes an unloading box, a loading box, processing equipment, and the aforementioned feeding system. The feeding system includes a first picking device, a second picking device, a third picking device, and four feeding devices. The unloading box, the loading box, and two feeding devices are arranged within the working range of the first picking device. The second picking device and one feeding device are arranged at the feeding end of the processing equipment, and the third picking device and one feeding device are arranged at the discharging end of the processing equipment.

[0028] The automatic loading and unloading method includes the following steps:

[0029] S1. The first material handling device removes the material tray from the feeding position of the first material feeding device within the working range;

[0030] S2. The first feeding device moves the tray of the next tray position to the feeding position;

[0031] S3. The first material handling device pours the waste material in the material tray into the unloading box;

[0032] S4. The first material handling device moves the material tray into the feeding box to pick up the raw materials;

[0033] S5. The first material handling device places the material tray at the feeding position of the second material feeding device within the working range;

[0034] S6. The second feeding device stacks the material trays at the feeding position to its own material tray position;

[0035] S7. Repeat steps S1 to S6 until all the material trays in the first feeding device are stacked to the second feeding device, then proceed to step S8.

[0036] The S8 AGV trolley transfers the stacked trays in the second feeding device to the third feeding device at the feed end of the processing equipment;

[0037] S9. The second material handling device removes the material tray from the feeding position of the third material feeding device and stacks it to the feeding end of the processing equipment;

[0038] S10. The third feeding device moves the tray of the next tray position to the feeding position;

[0039] S11. Repeat steps S9 and S10 until all the material trays in the third feeding device are stacked to the feeding end of the processing equipment, then proceed to step S12.

[0040] S12. The processing equipment moves the feed tray at the feed end to the processing position, and moves it to the discharge end after processing is completed;

[0041] S13. The third material handling device takes out the material tray from the discharge end of the processing equipment and places it in the feeding position of the fourth material feeding device located at the discharge end;

[0042] S114. The fourth feeding device stacks the material trays at the feeding position to its own material tray position;

[0043] S15. Repeat steps S13 and S14 until all the material trays at the discharge end of the processing equipment are stacked onto the fourth feeding device, then proceed to step S16.

[0044] S16. The AGV trolley moves the stacked trays in the fourth feeding device to the first feeding device and executes step S1.

[0045] The aforementioned feeding device achieves reliable positioning at a low hardware cost by using the positioning function of the feeding position and the relative control of preset parameters, thereby reducing the difficulty of material handling and system cost. Only one first sensor is needed in conjunction with preset parameters to achieve the positioning and lifting of all material trays, eliminating the need to deploy additional sensors or limiting structures at each material tray position. Compared with the multi-sensor solutions in the prior art, the hardware cost is significantly reduced. Furthermore, since the preset parameters are based on stored values, the software implementation is simple and avoids high-cost compensation algorithms. In addition, using the feeding position as a unified physical positioning reference ensures that the stopping position is consistent after each material handling component rises. This not only simplifies the operation of external material handling devices and reduces the difficulty of material handling, but also reduces positional deviations caused by stacking errors during the descent controlled by preset parameters, thereby improving the reliability of the feeding cycle. Attached Figure Description

[0046] Figure 1 This is a front view of the feeding device of this application when the feeding component is in the feeding position;

[0047] Figure 2 The left view of the feeding device of this application when the feeding component is located at the bottom tray position and the left side panel of the box is hidden;

[0048] Figure 3 for Figure 1 Enlarged view of the feed tray;

[0049] Figure 4 for Figure 1 A 3D view of one of the material handling components;

[0050] Figure 5 This is a perspective view of the material supply system of this application;

[0051] Figure 6 for Figure 1 Enlarged view of point A in the middle;

[0052] Figure 7 This is a top view of the automatic loading and unloading system of this application;

[0053] Figure 8 for Figure 5 Top view of the first material handling component;

[0054] Figure 9 for Figure 8 The left view;

[0055] Figure 10 for Figure 7 A bottom view of one of the second material handling components.

[0056] Reference numerals: 100, feeding device; 10, feeding box; 11, box body; 111, receiving cavity; 111a, positioning block; 111a1, planar section; 111a2, inclined section; 112, trolley cavity; 12, lifting assembly; 13, material picking assembly; 131, material picking seat; 132, first driving component; 133, telescopic component; 133a, slot; 133b, limiting protrusion; 20, material tray; 21, positioning pin; 22, positioning groove; 200, trolley; 210, trolley body; 220, pallet; 221, positioning protrusion; 30, tray carrier; 300, unloading box; 400, loading box; 500, processing equipment; 610, first picking device; 611, first picking assembly; 611a, picking frame; 611a1, limiting groove; 611b, clamping assembly; 620, second picking device; 621, second picking assembly; 621a, substrate; 621b, lighting lamp; 621c, vision sensor; 621d, gripper; 630, third picking device. Detailed Implementation

[0057] To make the above-mentioned objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Many specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, the present invention can be practiced in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0058] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," and "circumferential" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0059] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. In the description of this invention, "a plurality of" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0060] In this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components, unless otherwise explicitly limited. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0061] In this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, "above" or "below" the second feature can mean that the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, or that the first feature is in indirect contact with the second feature through an intermediate medium. Furthermore, "above," "over," and "on top" of the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature. "Below," "below," and "under" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a lower horizontal level than the second feature.

[0062] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "set on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may be an intervening element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intervening element. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only possible implementation.

[0063] Please combine Figure 1 as well as Figure 2 As shown, this application first provides a feeding device, including a feeding box 10 and a plurality of trays 20; the feeding box 10 includes a box body 11, a lifting assembly 12, a picking assembly 13 and a first sensor. The box body 11 has a receiving cavity 111. The trays 20 are stacked vertically on the bottom wall of the receiving cavity 111. The receiving cavity 111 has feeding positions distributed vertically from top to bottom and a plurality of tray positions corresponding to each tray 20. The lifting assembly 12 is disposed in the receiving cavity 111 and is used to drive the picking assembly 13 to move vertically. The picking assembly 13 is used to pick up or unload the corresponding tray 20. The first sensor is disposed in the box body 11 and is used to control the lifting assembly 12 to stop rising after detecting that the picking assembly 13 has risen to the feeding position.

[0064] The feeding device of this application achieves reliable positioning with low hardware cost through the positioning function of the feeding position and the relative control of preset parameters, thereby reducing the difficulty of material handling and system cost.

[0065] Specifically, only one first sensor is needed in conjunction with preset parameters to achieve the positioning and lifting of all material trays 20. There is no need to deploy additional sensors or limiting structures at each material tray position. Compared with the multi-sensor solution in the prior art, the hardware cost is significantly reduced. Moreover, since the preset parameters are based on stored values, the software implementation is simple and can avoid high-cost compensation algorithms.

[0066] In addition, by using the feeding position as a unified physical positioning benchmark, it is ensured that the stopping position is consistent after each feeding component 13 rises. This not only simplifies the operation of external feeding devices and reduces the difficulty of feeding, but also reduces position deviation caused by stacking errors during the descent controlled by preset parameters, thereby improving the reliability of the feeding cycle.

[0067] In this application, "mounting" refers to the ability of the tray 20 to be raised and lowered together with the picking component 13, including but not limited to clamping, insertion into the bottom support, magnetic attraction, vacuum adsorption, etc.; "unloading" refers to canceling the mounting action, and the tray 20 no longer rises and falls together with the picking component 13.

[0068] Please combine Figure 1 as well as Figure 3 As shown, in some embodiments, the top of the tray 20 is provided with a positioning pin 21, and the bottom is provided with a positioning groove 22 in the vertical direction. In the stacked state, there is a gap between the upper and lower trays 20.

[0069] The physical cooperation between the positioning pin 21 and the positioning groove 22 enables the positioning pin 21 of the upper tray 20 to be inserted into the positioning groove 22 of the lower tray 20 during stacking, thereby aligning the stacking position of each tray 20, reducing the horizontal offset error of a single tray 20, and providing correction for the vertical movement of the lifting assembly 12.

[0070] The gap between the upper and lower trays 20 allows the material handling component 13 to load and unload the trays 20 by extending into the gap and retracting.

[0071] Please combine Figure 1 as well as Figure 4 As shown, in some embodiments, the material handling assembly 13 includes a material handling seat 131, a first driving member 132, and a telescopic member 133. The material handling seat 131 is fixed to the lifting end of the lifting assembly 12, and the telescopic member 133 is slidably connected to the material handling seat 131. One end of the first driving member 132 is fixed to the material handling seat 131, and the other end is connected to the telescopic member 133. It is used to drive the telescopic member 133 to extend into the bottom gap of the material tray 20 to pick up the material tray 20, or to drive the telescopic member 133 to retract from the bottom gap of the material tray 20 to unload the material tray 20.

[0072] Specifically, the first driving component 132 pushes the telescopic component 133 to extend horizontally into the bottom gap of the material tray 20. At this time, the telescopic component 133 directly supports the material tray 20 and completes the loading. When unloading, the telescopic component 133 exits the gap horizontally and physically separates from the material tray 20.

[0073] Please combine Figure 1 as well as Figure 4 As shown, in some embodiments, the first driving member 132 is a telescopic cylinder, and the telescopic member 133 has a slot 133a. The telescopic end of the telescopic cylinder is engaged in the slot 133a, and the engaged part of the telescopic end has gaps with the inner wall of the slot 133a on both the telescopic direction side and the side perpendicular to the telescopic direction.

[0074] The multi-directional clearance design of the slot 133a makes the operation process fault-tolerant. Even if there is a deviation in the stacking position of the tray 20 or mechanical vibration, the telescopic component 133 can still smoothly enter and exit the gap. Specifically, there is a gap between the telescopic end and the inner wall of the slot 133a along the telescopic direction, which allows for small displacement tolerances and avoids jamming caused by mechanical deformation or installation errors. The gap between the telescopic end and the inner wall of the slot 133a on the side perpendicular to the telescopic direction can absorb vibration or skew force during the lifting process and protect the cylinder from non-axial loads.

[0075] A second aspect of this application provides a feeding method applicable to the aforementioned feeding device 100, comprising the following steps:

[0076] a. The lifting component 12 drives the material handling component 13 to rise;

[0077] b. After the first sensor detects that the material handling component 13 has risen to the feeding position, it controls the lifting component 12 to stop rising;

[0078] c. The lifting component 12 drives the material handling component 13 to descend to the corresponding material tray position according to preset parameters;

[0079] d. The material handling assembly 13 is equipped with a material tray 20;

[0080] e. The lifting component 12 drives the material handling component 13 and the corresponding material tray 20 to rise;

[0081] f. After the first sensor detects that the material handling component 13 has risen to the feeding position, it controls the lifting component 12 to stop rising;

[0082] g. Unloading tray from material handling assembly 13;

[0083] h. Repeat step cg until the preset parameters are executed;

[0084] The preset parameters include n descending quantities D1~Dn arranged in sequence, where n is the number of material trays 20, Dx is the distance between the x-th material tray position from top to bottom in the vertical direction and the feeding position, and x is any positive integer between 1 and n.

[0085] In the feeding method of the present application, in steps a and b, the first sensor is used to establish the feeding position as the reference origin, and then in steps c-g, the relative positioning is achieved using the preset parameter Dx. Specifically, the lifting component 12 drives the material taking component 13 to descend by Dx to the specific tray position. At this time, after the material taking component 13 carries the tray 20, it then ascends to the feeding position (calibrated again by the first sensor), ensuring that the tray 20 is always lifted to the feeding position with a unified benchmark. That is to say, with a single first sensor providing the positioning benchmark (feeding position), combined with the stored preset parameters, low-cost relative displacement control is achieved without visual compensation or a multi-sensor positioning system. And because the feeding position is a fixed benchmark, the initial error will not accumulate, ensuring relatively high positioning accuracy.

[0086] Certainly, in some other embodiments, the feeding device 100 can also be used to stack and store the trays 20 placed at the feeding position into its own tray positions, so as to facilitate the subsequent AGV cart to take out the whole stack of trays 20 together, improving the transfer efficiency.

[0087] The specific storage process is as follows: The lifting component 12 drives the material taking component 13 to ascend; after the first sensor detects that the material taking component 13 has ascended to the feeding position, it controls the lifting component 12 to stop ascending; the material taking component 13 carries the tray 20 located at the feeding position; the lifting component 12 drives the material taking component 13 to descend to the corresponding tray position according to the preset parameter; the material taking component 13 unloads the tray; repeat the above process until the preset parameter is executed;

[0088] At this time, the preset parameter includes n descending amounts D1 to Dn arranged in sequence, where n is the number of trays 20, Dx is the distance between the x-th tray position from bottom to top in the vertical direction and the feeding position, and x is any positive integer between 1 and n.

[0089] In some embodiments, the preset parameter satisfies: dx < Dx < dx + a, where dx is the distance between the bottom surface of the x-th tray 20 from top to bottom in the vertical direction and the feeding position, and a is the gap distance between adjacent two trays 20; using the physical buffer zone of the gap a, the telescopic member 133 is limited to enter the target gap interval, avoiding the risk of mechanical collision caused by cumulative error.

[0090] Among them, Dx > dx can ensure that after the material taking component 13 descends, the top end of the telescopic member 133 is lower than the bottom surface of the target tray 20, thus avoiding the telescopic member 133 hitting the tray 20; and Dx < dx + a can ensure that the top end of the telescopic member 133 is higher than the top surface of the lower tray 20, thus preventing hitting the lower tray 20 when inserting.

[0091] Please combine Figure 1 and Figure 5As shown, a third aspect of this application provides a feeding system, including at least one AGV trolley 200, at least one picking device, and a plurality of the aforementioned feeding devices 100. A accommodating cavity 111 extends downward to form a trolley cavity 112. Both the accommodating cavity 111 and the trolley cavity 112 open forward. The AGV trolley 200 includes a trolley body 210 and a pallet 220 that is vertically mounted on the top of the trolley body 210. The bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 111 is located between the highest and lowest strokes of the pallet 220. The picking device is used to remove the material tray 20 from the feeding position of each feeding device.

[0092] The accommodating cavity 111 of the feeding device 100 extends downward to form a trolley cavity 112, and both open forward so that the AGV trolley 200 carrying the stacked trays 20 can drive into or out of the housing 11 in the front-back direction through the openings of the accommodating cavity 111 and the trolley cavity 112. Furthermore, the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 111 is located between the highest and lowest strokes of the pallet 220. When the AGV trolley 200 drives in, the pallet 220 is raised to the highest stroke to avoid interference between the pallet 220 and the trays 20 it carries and the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 111. When the pallet 220 is lowered to the lowest stroke, it ensures that the trays 20 are placed on the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 111, thereby completing the transfer of the trays 20.

[0093] In addition, multiple feeding devices 100 can be transported by at least one AGV trolley 200 and picked up by at least one picking device, which effectively reduces system costs.

[0094] Please combine Figure 1 as well as Figure 6 As shown, in some embodiments, the feeding device further includes a tray carrier plate 30 for supporting each tray 20. The tray carrier plate 30 is placed on the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 111 and has positioning holes at the bottom. The top of the support plate 220 is provided with positioning protrusions 221 corresponding to each positioning hole.

[0095] Positioning blocks 111a are symmetrically fixed on the left and right sides of the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 111. The top surface of the positioning block 111a includes a planar segment 111a1 located near the center of the box 11 in the left and right direction and an inclined segment 111a2 connected to the planar segment 111a1 and located away from the center of the box 11. The inclined segment 111a2 is inclined upward in the left and right direction away from the center of the box 11. The material tray carrier plate 30 is placed on the planar segment 111a1, and the length of the material tray carrier plate 30 in the left and right direction is equal to the distance between the left and right ends of the two planar segments 111a1.

[0096] The bottom positioning hole of the tray carrier plate 30 and the top positioning protrusion 221 of the AGV pallet 220 are inserted and matched to achieve the initial positioning of the tray unit (the combination of tray 20 and tray carrier plate 30) on the AGV; while the plane section 111a1 of the positioning block 111a fits precisely with the tray carrier plate 30, restricting lateral displacement, and can achieve the fine positioning of the tray carrier plate 30 in the box 11; the dual positioning design avoids the transmission of the stacking error of the tray 20 to the picking process, thereby reducing the positioning compensation requirement of the picking component 13.

[0097] In addition, the inclined section 111a2 of the positioning block 111a is an outward and upward inclined surface. When the AGV pallet 220 lifts the tray carrier 30 into the receiving cavity 111, if the position of the tray carrier 30 is offset, the edge of the tray carrier 30 will slide down to the flat section 111a1 under the guidance of the inclined surface, so that the tray carrier 30 is finally stably placed on the flat section 111a1. This allows the positional deviation when the AGV enters to be automatically corrected without the need for additional manual / mechanical adjustments.

[0098] In some embodiments, the feeding device further includes a second sensor disposed on the rear inner wall of the accommodating cavity 111, and the position of the second sensor is lower than the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 111. The second sensor is used to send a signal to the AGV trolley 200 after detecting the pallet 220.

[0099] It is easy to understand that when the second sensor detects the pallet 220, it means that the AGV trolley 200 is in the correct position in the front-back direction and can be detected by the second sensor, that is, the AGV trolley 200 is in the designated position; at the same time, the pallet 220 of the AGV trolley 200 has been lowered to correspond with the second sensor and can be detected by the second sensor, that is, the tray 20 has been supported by the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 111.

[0100] In other words, the second sensor can detect whether the AGV trolley 200 has entered the correct position in the forward and backward direction when it enters, and can also detect whether the pallet 220 has descended into position when the AGV trolley 200 unloads the material tray 20. The two detection requirements can be met simultaneously with just one sensor, which further reduces the equipment cost of the material feeding system of this application.

[0101] If the AGV trolley 200 does not move to the designated position in the forward and backward direction, the distance between the second sensor and the AGV trolley 200 is too large, and the second sensor cannot detect the AGV trolley 200; if the pallet 220 of the AGV trolley 200 is not lowered to the second sensor.

[0102] Please refer to Figure 7As shown, the fourth aspect of this application provides an automatic loading and unloading method applicable to an automatic loading and unloading system. The automatic loading and unloading system includes a discharge box 300, a loading box 400, a processing equipment 500, and the aforementioned feeding system. The feeding system includes a first picking device 610, a second picking device 620, a third picking device 630, and four feeding devices 100. The first picking device 610 has a discharge box 300, a loading box 400, and two feeding devices 100 within its working range. The processing equipment 500 has a second picking device 620 and one feeding device 100 at its inlet end, and a third picking device 630 and one feeding device 100 at its outlet end.

[0103] The automatic loading and unloading method includes the following steps:

[0104] S1. The first material handling device removes the material tray from the feeding position of the first material feeding device within the working range;

[0105] S2. The first feeding device moves the tray of the next tray position to the feeding position;

[0106] S3. The first material handling device pours the waste material in the material tray into the unloading box;

[0107] S4. The first material handling device moves the material tray into the feeding box to pick up the raw materials;

[0108] S5. The first material handling device places the material tray at the feeding position of the second material feeding device within the working range;

[0109] S6. The second feeding device stacks the material trays at the feeding position to its own material tray position;

[0110] S7. Repeat steps S1 to S6 until all the material trays in the first feeding device are stacked to the second feeding device, then proceed to step S8.

[0111] The S8 AGV trolley transfers the stacked trays in the second feeding device to the third feeding device at the feed end of the processing equipment;

[0112] S9. The second material handling device removes the material tray from the feeding position of the third material feeding device and stacks it to the feeding end of the processing equipment;

[0113] S10. The third feeding device moves the tray of the next tray position to the feeding position;

[0114] S11. Repeat steps S9 and S10 until all the material trays in the third feeding device are stacked to the feeding end of the processing equipment, then proceed to step S12.

[0115] S12. The processing equipment moves the feed tray at the feed end to the processing position, and moves it to the discharge end after processing is completed;

[0116] S13. The third material handling device takes out the material tray from the discharge end of the processing equipment and places it in the feeding position of the fourth material feeding device located at the discharge end;

[0117] S14. The fourth feeding device stacks the material trays at the feeding position to its own material tray position;

[0118] S15. Repeat steps S13 and S14 until all the material trays at the discharge end of the processing equipment are stacked to the fourth feeding device, then proceed to step S16.

[0119] S16. The AGV trolley moves the stacked trays in the fourth feeding device to the first feeding device and executes step S1.

[0120] After the first material handling device 610 or the second material handling device 620 takes away the material tray 20, the corresponding material feeding device 100 can automatically lift the next material tray 20 to the feeding position through the lifting component 12 (step S2 / S10), thereby realizing continuous material feeding, avoiding the downtime caused by manual intervention or additional correction actions, and improving the loading and unloading efficiency.

[0121] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned automatic loading and unloading method, the material tray 20 forms a closed loop through the unloading box 300 (waste disposal) → loading box 400 (new raw material loading) → processing equipment 500 → recycling to the feeding device 100 (step S17), realizing the automatic circulation and reuse of empty / full material trays; the material picking and unloading needs of the unloading box 300, loading box 400 and two feeding devices 100 can be met by the first picking device 610 alone, and the material tray 20 transfer needs of the entire automatic loading and unloading system can be met by at least one AGV trolley 200, effectively reducing the system equipment.

[0122] Please combine Figure 7 as well as Figure 8 As shown, in some embodiments, the first material handling device 610 is a robotic arm, and the moving end of the robotic arm is connected to a first material handling component 611. The first material handling component 611 includes a material handling frame 611a and multiple sets of clamping components 611b fixed to the material handling frame 611a. The material handling frame 611a can be sleeved on the outside of the material tray 20. Each set of clamping components 611b includes upper and lower clamping plates. The upper and lower clamping plates can extend into the material handling frame 611a to clamp the material tray 20 vertically between the upper and lower clamping plates, thereby ensuring that the first material handling device 610 can always stably clamp the material tray 20 when flipping the material tray 20 to dump waste.

[0123] Preferably, the material picking frame 611a has a set of clamping components 611b on one side along the length direction and two sets of clamping components 611b on the other side to form a stable three-point fixation.

[0124] Furthermore, please combine Figure 4 as well as Figure 9As shown, in some embodiments, the telescopic member 133 is provided with a limiting protrusion 133b, and the bottom of the material picking frame 611a is correspondingly provided with a limiting groove 611a1. The limiting protrusion 133b can be engaged in the limiting groove 611a1 to improve the stability of the first material picking component 611 in the material picking process.

[0125] Please refer to Figure 10 As shown, in some embodiments, both the second picking device 620 and the third picking device 630 are trusses. The moving end of the truss is connected to a second picking assembly 621. The second picking assembly 621 includes a base plate 621a and an illumination lamp 621b, a vision sensor 621c, and multiple grippers 621d fixed to the base plate 621a. The grippers 621d correspond to each positioning pin 21 of the tray 20 and are used to clamp the positioning pins. The illumination lamp 621b is used for supplementary lighting to improve the recognition accuracy of the vision sensor 621c. The vision sensor 621c is electrically connected to the truss to feed back the recognized visual pattern to the truss so that the second picking assembly 621 can be moved by the truss to align each gripper 621d with the positioning pin 21.

[0126] Using trusses as the second material handling device 620 and the third material handling device 630 can significantly reduce equipment costs compared to robotic arms.

[0127] Preferably, the vision sensor 621c is located at the center of the substrate 621a, and a plurality of illumination lamps 621b are fixed around the vision sensor 621c on the substrate 621a.

[0128] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0129] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementations of the present invention, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention patent. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of this invention patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A feeding device, characterized in that, Includes a feeding box (10) and multiple trays (20); The feeding box (10) includes a box body (11), a lifting assembly (12), a material picking assembly (13), and a first sensor. The box body (11) has a receiving cavity (111). The material trays (20) are stacked vertically on the bottom wall of the receiving cavity (111). The receiving cavity (111) has feeding positions distributed vertically from top to bottom and multiple material tray positions corresponding to each of the material trays (20). The lifting assembly (12) is disposed in the accommodating cavity (111) and is used to drive the material picking assembly (13) to move in the vertical direction. The material picking assembly (13) is used to load or unload the corresponding material tray (20). The first sensor is disposed in the housing (11) and is used to control the lifting assembly (12) to stop rising after detecting that the material picking assembly (13) has risen to the feeding position. The accommodating cavity (111) has a downward through-hole for accommodating the AGV trolley (200) and the accommodating cavity (111) and the trolley cavity (112) both open forward. The AGV trolley (200) includes a trolley body (210) and a pallet (220) that is vertically mounted on the top of the trolley body (210). The bottom wall of the accommodating cavity (111) is located between the highest and lowest strokes of the pallet (220). The feeding device also includes a tray carrier plate (30) for carrying each of the trays (20). The tray carrier plate (30) is placed on the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity (111) and has a positioning hole at the bottom. The top of the tray plate (220) is provided with a positioning protrusion (221) corresponding to each of the positioning holes. Positioning blocks (111a) are symmetrically fixed on the left and right sides of the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity (111). The top surface of the positioning block (111a) includes a planar segment (111a1) located near the center of the box (11) in the left and right direction and an inclined segment (111a2) connected to the planar segment (111a1) and located away from the center of the box (11). The inclined segment (111a2) is inclined upward in the left and right direction away from the center of the box (11). The material tray carrier plate (30) is placed on the planar segment (111a1), and the length of the material tray carrier plate (30) in the left and right direction is equal to the distance between the left and right ends of the two planar segments (111a1).

2. A feeding method, applicable to the feeding device (100) of claim 1, characterized in that, Including the following steps: a. The lifting component (12) drives the material handling component (13) to rise; b. After the first sensor detects that the material receiving component (13) has risen to the material supply position, it controls the lifting component (12) to stop rising; c. The lifting component (12) drives the material taking component (13) to descend to the corresponding material tray position according to preset parameters; d. The material handling component (13) is mounted on the material tray (20); e. The lifting component (12) drives the material picking component (13) and the corresponding material tray (20) to rise; f. After the first sensor detects that the material handling component (13) has risen to the material supply position, it controls the lifting component (12) to stop rising; g. The material handling component (13) unloads the material tray; h. Repeat step cg until the preset parameters are executed; The preset parameters include n descending amounts D1~Dn arranged in sequence, where n is the number of the material trays (20), Dx is the distance between the xth material tray position and the material supply position from top to bottom in the vertical direction, and x is any positive integer between 1 and n.

3. The feeding method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The top of the tray (20) is provided with a positioning pin (21), and the bottom is provided with a positioning groove (22) in the vertical direction. In the stacked state, there is a gap between the upper and lower trays (20).

4. The feeding method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The material handling assembly (13) includes a material handling seat (131), a first driving member (132), and a telescopic member (133). The material handling seat (131) is fixed to the lifting end of the lifting assembly (12). The telescopic member (133) is slidably connected to the material handling seat (131). One end of the first driving member (132) is fixed to the material handling seat (131), and the other end is connected to the telescopic member (133). It is used to drive the telescopic member (133) to extend into the bottom gap of the material tray (20) to carry the material tray (20), or to drive the telescopic member (133) to retract from the bottom gap of the material tray (20) to unload the material tray (20).

5. The feeding method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The preset parameters satisfy: dx < Dx < dx + a, where dx is the distance between the bottom surface of the xth material tray (20) from top to bottom along the vertical direction and the material supply position, and a is the gap distance between two adjacent material trays (20).

6. A feeding system, characterized in that, It includes at least one AGV trolley (200), at least one material handling device, and a plurality of feeding devices (100) as described in claim 1, the material handling device being used to remove the tray (20) from the feeding position of each of the feeding devices.

7. The feeding system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The feeding device further includes a second sensor, which is disposed on the rear inner wall of the accommodating cavity (111) and the position of the second sensor is lower than the bottom wall of the accommodating cavity (111). The second sensor is used to send a signal to the AGV trolley (200) after detecting the pallet (220).

8. An automatic loading and unloading method, characterized in that, This is applicable to an automatic loading and unloading system, which includes an unloading box (300), a loading box (400), a processing equipment (500), and a feeding system as described in claim 6 or claim 7. The feeding system includes a first picking device (610), a second picking device (620), a third picking device (630), and four feeding devices (100). The first picking device (610) has the unloading box (300), the loading box (400), and two feeding devices (100) within its working range. The processing equipment (500) has the second picking device (620) and one feeding device (100) at its feed end, and the processing equipment (500) has the third picking device (630) and one feeding device (100) at its discharge end. The automatic loading and unloading method includes the following steps: S1. The first material handling device removes the material tray from the feeding position of the first material feeding device within the working range; S2. The first feeding device moves the tray of the next tray position to the feeding position; S3. The first material handling device pours the waste material in the material tray into the unloading box; S4. The first material handling device moves the material tray into the feeding box to pick up the raw materials; S5. The first material handling device places the material tray at the feeding position of the second material feeding device within the working range; S6. The second feeding device stacks the material trays at the feeding position to its own material tray position; S7. Repeat steps S1 to S6 until all the material trays in the first feeding device are stacked to the second feeding device, then proceed to step S8. The S8 AGV trolley transfers the stacked trays in the second feeding device to the third feeding device at the feed end of the processing equipment; S9. The second material handling device removes the material tray from the feeding position of the third material feeding device and stacks it to the feeding end of the processing equipment; S10. The third feeding device moves the tray of the next tray position to the feeding position; S11. Repeat steps S9 and S10 until all the material trays in the third feeding device are stacked to the feeding end of the processing equipment, then proceed to step S12. S12. The processing equipment moves the feed tray at the feed end to the processing position, and moves it to the discharge end after processing is completed; S13. The third material handling device takes out the material tray from the discharge end of the processing equipment and places it in the feeding position of the fourth material feeding device located at the discharge end; S14. The fourth feeding device stacks the material trays at the feeding position to its own material tray position; S15. Repeat steps S13 and S14 until all the material trays at the discharge end of the processing equipment are stacked onto the fourth feeding device, then proceed to step S16. S16. The AGV trolley moves the stacked trays in the fourth feeding device to the first feeding device and executes step S1.

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