A visual buffer pick-and-place device and method for microneedles

Abstract

This invention discloses a visual buffer pick-and-place device and method for microneedles. The device includes a feeding assembly, a pick-and-place assembly, and a feeding assembly. The feeding assembly includes a vibrating plate and a visual screening unit. The vibrating plate disperses the vibration of the microneedles, and the visual screening unit acquires images of the microneedles, filters and identifies individual microneedles, and provides feedback on the position and orientation information of the individual microneedles. The feeding assembly includes a feeding seat and a pressure-adjusting buffer structure. The feeding seat has a feeding groove, and the pressure-adjusting buffer structure provides a buffer positive or negative pressure to the feeding groove. The pick-and-place assembly includes a suction head, a pressure-adjusting pick-and-place structure, and a driving structure. The suction head has several microholes communicating with the pressure-adjusting pick-and-place structure. By generating negative pressure at the microholes, the individual microneedles are picked up. The driving structure drives the suction head to reciprocate between the feeding assembly and the feeding assembly, and delivers the individual microneedles to the feeding groove according to the position and orientation information to complete the feeding operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of microneedle delivery technology, specifically relating to a visual buffer pick-and-place device and method for microneedles. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of automated processing and assembly of precision micro-parts (such as medical microneedles, microelectronic probes, and micro-tubes), achieving efficient and non-destructive continuous production is the industry's goal. To this end, the industry has developed various integrated processing systems. For example, patent application CN112027533A discloses a high-precision semi-automatic feeding device for micro-parts, including a worktable, a vibrating feeding tray located beside the worktable for conveying parts, a material feeding mechanism located on top of the worktable with its inlet end connected to the outlet end of the vibrating feeding tray, a material fixing mechanism located on top of the worktable, a material insertion mechanism, and a material shifting mechanism. The material shifting mechanism is located on top of the worktable, and the material insertion mechanism is installed at the output end of the material shifting mechanism. The material shifting mechanism is used to move the material insertion mechanism away from the output end of the material feeding mechanism, and the material insertion mechanism is used to convey multiple parts to the output end of the material fixing mechanism. This solution uses a method of batch inserting parts into a toothed fixture. This type of rigid insertion, involving multiple parts simultaneously, cannot independently buffer or adjust the force on individual micro-parts, amplifying the risk of jamming or scratching due to dimensional tolerances or slight posture differences. Furthermore, regarding the feeding of probe-type micro-parts, patent application CN112722842A discloses an automatic micro-probe tip feeding machine, including: a vibratory feeder system, a robotic arm picking module, and an image acquisition device. The image acquisition device is installed on the side of the robotic arm picking module to take real-time photos of several micro-probe tips placed within the vibratory feeder system. The vibratory feeder system contains several micro-probe tips, and the vibration of the system disperses these tips. The robotic arm picking module picks up the micro-probe tips from the vibratory feeder system and then transports them. This solution uses a robotic arm to vacuum-pick up the tips and then blows them into a discharge pipe using air. Although this method avoids direct contact with mechanical push rods, the instantaneous impact force and flow field turbulence brought by high-speed airflow still constitute an uncontrollable kinetic impact on milligram-level parts, which can easily cause parts to bounce or even splash inside the pipe. In essence, it still does not solve the problem of managing the release of kinetic energy.

[0003] Patent application CN121222938A discloses a continuous microtube precision machining system and method. The machining system includes a base, and a feeding and conveying assembly, a discharging assembly, a forming assembly, and a detection assembly supported on the base. The forming assembly includes a continuous worktable and a forming structure. The continuous worktable has multiple fixing holes for accommodating microtubes. The projection of the forming structure on the continuous worktable intersects with the running path of the fixing holes, and the forming structure reciprocates toward the continuous worktable to form the microtubes accommodated in the fixing holes. The feeding and conveying assembly is used to convey the microtubes into the fixing holes of the forming assembly. The discharging assembly is used to collect the microtubes formed in the fixing holes. The detection assembly is used to detect the position and orientation of the microtubes in at least one of the material box, the feeding and conveying assembly, and the fixing holes. This solution demonstrates significant advantages in improving system integration and production cycle time by setting up multi-station visual inspection and a rotary production line, providing a basic framework for the batch processing of micro parts. The application also features a detachable transition carrier within a fixed hole. The transition carrier has through holes for microtubes of preset sizes to pass through. By utilizing the cooperation of the closing mold, the transition carrier, and the fixed hole, the microtube can be fully limited according to its size, avoiding radial deformation of the microtube during the closing molding process of the closing mold, and preventing scratches caused by axial movement. The easy replacement of the transition carrier also improves the versatility of the processing system. However, when implementing this basic solution in depth and adapting it to smaller and more precise microneedle parts, the process of ensuring the stable positioning of the microneedle in the fixed hole and its transition carrier during the material handling stage reveals several deep-seated problems affecting yield and reliability. For example: 1) Although the transfer structure can achieve vacuum suction due to the material, small size and light weight characteristics of the microneedle, in actual operation, for microneedles with high surface energy and extremely light weight, the existing suction head design is difficult to overcome the adhesion interference caused by electrostatic force and van der Waals force, resulting in unstable picking or release residue. That is, the position control and disturbance response of the material handling and transfer stage are insufficient; 2) The method of direct placement to achieve material feeding will cause the part to hit the feeding groove and other structures with a certain initial velocity. Its kinetic energy cannot be effectively buffered, which can easily cause bouncing, rolling or axial tilting, resulting in the part and the transition carrier of the fixed hole not being aligned and damaging the microneedle blank during feeding; 3) The microneedle blank is not in the correct posture in the fixed hole, and even microscopic damage is caused by stress concentration. This problem becomes particularly pronounced as part sizes shrink further.

[0004] Existing solutions all employ open-loop, passive, and collision-based strategies when handling the critical action of final placement of tiny parts. They collectively overlook the fact that, at the microscopic scale, the dynamic behavior of the parts (inertia, collision, airflow disturbance) and non-contact forces (static electricity, adsorption force) have become the dominant factors influencing the success or failure of the operation.

[0005] Therefore, how to provide a technology for safely loading and unloading tiny parts is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0006] To address the shortcomings of the existing technologies, this invention provides a visual buffer pick-and-place device and method for microneedles. Through a visual screening unit and a negative pressure suction method using the suction head, independent microneedles are effectively screened and picked up. Combined with a drive structure, transfer and spatial adjustment are completed simultaneously, enabling high-precision and efficient matching of independent microneedles to the feeding trough. Furthermore, the positive pressure of the pressure-regulating buffer structure forms an air film between the microneedle and the feeding trough, transforming harmful rigid collisions into controllable damped settling. The entire process is highly automated, efficient, and stable, significantly improving the success rate and accuracy of material handling, feeding, and pushing, thus meeting the production needs of high-end precision manufacturing.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles, comprising a feeding assembly, a pick-and-place assembly, and a feeding assembly;

[0008] The feeding assembly includes a vibratory feeder and a vision sorting unit. The vibratory feeder disperses the microneedles inside by vibration, and the vision sorting unit acquires images of the microneedles inside the vibratory feeder, sorts and identifies individual microneedles, and feeds back the position and pose information of the individual microneedles.

[0009] The feeding assembly includes a feeding seat and a pressure regulating buffer structure. The feeding seat is provided with at least one feeding groove whose width matches the diameter of the microneedle. The pressure regulating buffer structure provides positive or negative pressure to the feeding groove.

[0010] The pick-and-place assembly includes a suction head, a pressure-regulating pick-and-place structure, and a drive structure. The suction head is provided with several micro-holes that communicate with the pressure-regulating pick-and-place structure. By generating negative pressure at the micro-holes, the independent microneedles are picked up. The drive structure drives the suction head to reciprocate between the feeding assembly and the infeed assembly, and delivers the independent microneedles to the infeed trough according to the position and orientation information of the independent microneedles to complete the feeding operation.

[0011] The visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles of the present invention can perform a series of operations on micro nickel tubes with a diameter of less than 1.0 mm, preferably less than 0.8 mm, more preferably less than 0.6 mm, such as 0.2 mm. These operations include, but are not limited to, using a high-precision visual screening unit to capture the spatial position and orientation information of the micro nickel tubes, and combining automated pick-and-place components and feeding components to achieve an integrated technology for precise and efficient gripping and positioning of micro nickel tubes. This breaks through the bottleneck of low precision and low efficiency of traditional manual material handling and is suitable for fields such as microelectronics, medical devices, and precision instruments where the assembly precision requirements for micro-sized nickel tubes are extremely high.

[0012] Furthermore, the positioning accuracy of the vision sorting unit is ±0.005mm. The high-precision vision sorting unit can accurately identify minute posture deviations of the micro-nickel tubes (such as tilt angle and rotation angle), ensuring that the material picking position deviation is controlled within the allowable range of the process.

[0013] Furthermore, the drive structure includes an X-axis motion unit, a Y-axis motion unit, a Z-axis motion unit, and an R-axis rotation unit;

[0014] The X-axis motion unit, Y-axis motion unit, and Z-axis motion unit all include a slide rail, a slider sliding on the slide rail, and a driving component for driving the slider to slide. The slide rail of the X-axis motion unit extends from the feeding component to the infeed component, and the slide rails of the X-axis motion unit, Y-axis motion unit, and Z-axis motion unit are perpendicular to each other.

[0015] The R-rotating unit is fixed to the suction head to drive the suction head to rotate around its own circumference.

[0016] The drive structure enables the device to correct the microneedle's posture online during transport. Combined with the posture detection of the vision screening unit, the angle of the microneedle can be actively adjusted before it is fed into the material, ensuring that it precisely matches the orientation requirements of the feeding slot and other placement positions. This solves the problem of microneedle placement failure caused by posture deviation during microneedle grasping or twisting during transport, and significantly improves the placement efficiency and effectiveness of microneedles with directional requirements.

[0017] Furthermore, the suction head satisfies at least one of the following:

[0018] The end face of the suction head with micropores is either a plane or a contoured surface that matches the curvature of the microneedle surface;

[0019] The suction head is made of a flexible material with an elastic modulus ranging from 1 MPa to 1000 MPa;

[0020] The suction head is equipped with an electrostatic removal unit;

[0021] The suction head generates positive pressure at the micropores through a pressure-regulating pick-and-place structure to blow independent microneedles.

[0022] The suction head features contoured surfaces, such as, but not limited to, micron-level array textures, multi-level pores, or flexible micropillars. These structures increase the contact area and sealing performance, adapting to the curved surfaces of the microneedle tips and achieving microscopic multi-layer sealing. This allows for reliable pickup even under low negative pressure, preventing damage to precision structures. Furthermore, this suction head structure better adapts to irregular, rough, or oily surfaces, expanding the applicability and reliability of vacuum adsorption. Due to the small size of the microneedles, low-needle suction further reduces the possibility of damage. The elastic modulus range of the suction head ensures it has sufficient deformation capacity to conform to the part while possessing the necessary rigidity to maintain its shape and transmit motion. Materials used include, but are not limited to, elastomers such as silicone rubber, fluororubber, and polyurethane rubber, as well as ceramic materials such as alumina and silicon carbide. The suction head is equipped with an electrostatic removal unit, which eliminates the interference of electrostatic forces on the extremely small microneedles at the source, preventing unintended adsorption or difficulty in detachment after adsorption. Conductive silicone rubber, conductive nitrile rubber, and conductive fluororubber are preferred, as they are particularly suitable for electrostatic elimination requirements. The suction head provides a controllable active release force in addition to gravity through positive pressure blowing, which can work in conjunction with the buffer positive pressure of the pressure-adjustable pick-and-place structure to achieve more precise release triggering.

[0023] Furthermore, the visual sorting unit includes a front-loading visual acquisition device and a rear-loading visual acquisition device;

[0024] The front-loading vision acquisition device is positioned directly opposite the vibratory feeder at intervals and acquires images of the microneedles inside the vibratory feeder. It then filters and identifies individual microneedles and provides feedback on the static pose information of the individual microneedles.

[0025] The post-removal visual acquisition device is set on the reciprocating motion path of the suction head to collect the dynamic pose information of the independent microneedles on the suction head.

[0026] The front and rear visual acquisition devices jointly achieve full-process monitoring and closed-loop control of the microneedle's pose. The front visual acquisition device collects the static pose information of the individual microneedles within the vibratory feeder, guiding the suction head to accurately grasp the microneedles, ensuring correct microneedle grasping pose, and providing basic information for microneedle pose adjustment. Based on the static pose information of the individual microneedles, the suction head can perform coarse pose adjustment of the microneedles according to the feed trough information during its movement from the feeding component to the infeed component. The downstream rear visual acquisition device can collect the dynamic pose information of the individual microneedles on the suction head during microneedle transfer to judge the coarse pose adjustment results. It can also monitor whether the pick-and-place component experiences unexpected offset or rotation during microneedle transfer, providing real-time data for fine pose adjustment before placement in the feed trough and subsequent optional microneedle placement correction. The dual-stage detection of the front and rear visual acquisition devices forms a complete perception-correction loop, which significantly improves the robustness of the visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles in dealing with complex working conditions and the final microneedle placement (feeding) accuracy.

[0027] Furthermore, the visual screening unit also includes a visual calibration device, located downstream of the post-removal visual acquisition device, to perform a final calibration and confirmation of the pose fine-tuning results before material feeding. This ensures that the microneedle axis is essentially completely aligned with the feed trough axis, improving feeding accuracy and reducing the difficulty of subsequent correction.

[0028] Furthermore, the pressure regulating and buffering structure includes multiple buffer holes provided on the inner wall of the feed trough, as well as a positive pressure source and a negative pressure source connected to the buffer holes through an air supply channel, and an air supply control valve is provided on the air supply channel.

[0029] The pneumatic control valve is configured to perform the following cyclic operation:

[0030] (1) The air circuit control valve connects the positive pressure source and the buffer hole so that the positive pressure source provides positive pressure airflow to the feed tank and forms a buffer air film in the feed tank;

[0031] (2) The gas path control valve reduces the pressure of the positive pressure airflow delivered by the positive pressure source, or the gas path control valve switches the connection between the negative pressure source and the buffer hole, or closes the gas supply channel to restore the ambient air pressure.

[0032] The cyclic operation of the pneumatic control valve provides an optimal programmed control method for pneumatic soft landing. Positive pressure establishes a protective buffer film during the buffer feeding stage, followed by the pushing and mold-feeding stage. At this time, the pneumatic control valve can reduce the pressure of the positive pressure airflow delivered by the positive pressure source, or switch the connection between the negative pressure source and the buffer orifice, or close the air supply channel to restore the ambient air pressure.

[0033] Preferably, the positive pressure in the feed groove is gradually reduced while the position and orientation of the microneedle in the feed groove are simultaneously detected. Once the requirements are met, the microneedle is pushed from the feed groove into the molding die for subsequent molding processes. This phased control sequence minimizes the mechanical impact and kinetic energy of the microneedle, achieving non-destructive, non-bounced, and high-precision microneedle buffering and pushing into the die.

[0034] Furthermore, the pressure drop rate of the positive pressure airflow is from 0.1 kPa / s to 15 kPa / s.

[0035] The pressure drop rate of the positive pressure airflow is crucial for achieving an effective "soft landing." This pressure drop rate range is the result of specific optimization for the small size and extremely light weight of the microneedles. If the pressure drop rate is too slow, the microneedle's posture adjustment time is long, resulting in low feeding and pushing efficiency; if it is too fast, the supporting force of the buffer air film disappears too quickly, and the buffering effect is difficult to exert. Within this preferred pressure drop rate range, the positive pressure airflow decreases gradually, ensuring that the buffer air film has sufficient time to dissipate the falling kinetic energy of the microneedles, allowing them to contact the bottom of the feed trough at a low speed (e.g., on the order of millimeters per second), thereby fundamentally avoiding microneedle bouncing.

[0036] Furthermore, the feed trough is a V-shaped trough or a U-shaped trough, with a surface roughness Ra of less than 0.1 μm, preferably less than 0.08 μm, and the buffer hole is provided on the bottom and / or side walls of the feed trough.

[0037] The V-shaped or U-shaped grooves in the feed trough organically combine mechanical guidance and pneumatic functions. Specifically, the V-shaped or U-shaped groove structure utilizes its own geometric constraints to guide the microneedles self-centering, initially correcting their horizontal position and improving the accuracy of subsequent microneedle processing. The buffer holes on the walls or bottom of the feed trough provide direct physical channels for generating a uniform positive pressure air film and applying adsorption negative pressure. Their arrangement ensures that the airflow acts evenly around the microneedles, achieving stable buffering and reliable adsorption. The integrated design of the buffer holes and the feed trough improves space utilization and functional reliability. Using a feed trough with a low surface roughness helps reduce wear on the microneedles during the feeding and pushing stage, especially when using weak negative pressure positioning or restoring ambient air pressure after feeding. High feed trough surface quality facilitates high-quality pushing and mold insertion.

[0038] Furthermore, the maximum negative pressure of the suction head micro-orifice ranges from -50 kPa to -90 kPa, while the maximum negative pressure of the feed trough buffer orifice ranges from -5 kPa to -20 kPa. The high negative pressure in the suction head micro-orifice provides the necessary adsorption force boundary for stable microneedle adsorption. For microneedle-like small parts, insufficient negative pressure results in inadequate adsorption force, making it difficult to resist vibrations or airflow interference during movement; excessive negative pressure may subject the microneedle to unnecessary stress. The maximum negative pressure range of -50 kPa to -90 kPa provides sufficient (several times its weight) and safe adsorption force for the microneedle, ensuring rapid and accurate material suction in the vibratory feeder and maintaining stable adsorption during movement and rotational adjustments. The weak adsorption method in the feed trough satisfies positioning requirements without hindering microneedle position adjustment and the process of pushing material into the mold.

[0039] Furthermore, the feeding assembly also includes a vision positioning unit and a feeding unit;

[0040] The vision positioning unit is set up in the feed groove to perform pose detection on the microneedles placed in the feed groove; the pusher unit pushes the microneedles that have passed the detection by the vision positioning unit from the feed groove into the molding die.

[0041] By installing a vision positioning unit at the feed trough, online real-time verification and closed-loop feedback control of the microneedle feeding results can be achieved. This not only instantly determines the success of microneedle feeding, preventing defective products from flowing into the next processing step, but also feeds back the detected micron-level position and posture deviations to the back-end control system, driving an additional actuator for secondary precise positioning compensation (or adjusting by blowing air using a pressure-regulating pick-and-place structure), thereby improving the final microneedle feeding accuracy to the theoretical requirements. Furthermore, this vision positioning unit provides production process data, offering direct evidence for process parameter optimization, equipment status diagnosis, and production yield analysis, realizing intelligent operation from "experience-driven" to "data-driven."

[0042] Furthermore, the feeding unit includes at least one of a feeding plate, a feeding rod, and a feeding nozzle. Due to the small size and light weight of the microneedles, and the extremely low surface roughness of the feed groove and / or the presence of a positive pressure buffer air cushion, the feeding unit exerts low pushing force and high efficiency on the microneedles.

[0043] Secondly, the present invention also provides a method for picking up and placing microneedles using a visual buffer, employing the aforementioned visual buffer device for picking up and placing microneedles, and the method includes the following steps:

[0044] S1. The visual screening unit acquires images of the microneedles in the vibratory feeder, filters and identifies independent microneedles, and feeds back the pose information of the independent microneedles.

[0045] S2. The pick-and-place component uses the suction head to draw up the determined independent microneedles under negative pressure. The drive structure drives the suction head to move from the feeding component to the infeed component. At the same time, according to the position and posture information of the independent microneedles, the suction head is adjusted to match the position and posture of the independent microneedles with the infeed groove.

[0046] The pressure regulating and buffering structure provides a buffering positive pressure in the feed trough;

[0047] S3. The pressure regulating and buffering structure reduces the positive pressure in the feed tank, or switches to generating a positioning negative pressure in the feed tank, or restores the ambient air pressure to complete the feeding operation of the independent microneedles.

[0048] Furthermore, step S3 also includes at least one of the following:

[0049] (1) Before the negative pressure of the pick-up and drop-off assembly is stopped, the static electricity of the independent microneedles is removed, and the independent microneedles fall freely after the negative pressure is stopped;

[0050] (2) After the suction head stops the negative pressure, the pressure adjustment and pick-up structure generates positive pressure at the micropore to blow the independent microneedles.

[0051] (3) Perform position detection on the microneedles placed in the feed trough and fine-tune the relative position of the microneedles and the feed trough using the pressure regulating buffer structure.

[0052] The present invention provides a visual buffer pick-and-place device and method for microneedles, which have at least the following beneficial effects:

[0053] 1. This invention effectively filters and extracts independent microneedles through a visual screening unit and a negative pressure suction method using the suction head. Combined with a drive structure, it achieves simultaneous transfer and spatial adjustment, enabling high-precision and efficient matching of the independent microneedles to the feeding trough. Furthermore, the positive pressure of the pressure-regulating buffer structure forms an air film between the microneedle and the feeding trough, transforming harmful rigid collisions into controllable damped settling, effectively eliminating bouncing, and achieving a non-destructive, high-precision transition from "dynamic delivery" to "static positioning."

[0054] 2. This invention boasts a high degree of automation, high operational efficiency, and high stability. The entire process requires no manual intervention, achieving full automation from micro-nickel tube feeding, visual recognition, and posture adjustment to material feeding and pushing, significantly reducing the intensity of manual operation and human error. A single unit can complete 1200-1500 micro-nickel tube feeding, picking, and pushing operations per hour, increasing efficiency by 8-10 times compared to manual labor, meeting the needs of mass production. This device, through the coordinated use of visual inspection technology, a servo drive system, and a pneumatic pressure regulation system, possesses comprehensive capabilities against ambient light interference, airflow interference, and vibration, with a continuous operation failure rate of less than 0.5%, ensuring production continuity. Attached Figure Description

[0055] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles of the present invention;

[0056] Figure 2 This is an enlarged schematic diagram of a feed seat provided in a certain embodiment of the present invention;

[0057] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles provided in one embodiment of the present invention from another perspective.

[0058] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of the visual buffer pick-and-place method for microneedles according to the present invention.

[0059] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached drawings: 1-Feeding assembly, 11-Vibrating plate, 12-Vibration screening unit, 121-Front material handling vision acquisition device, 122-Rear material handling vision acquisition device, 2-Pick-and-place assembly, 21-Suction head, 22-Drive structure, 221-X-axis motion unit, 222-Y-axis motion unit, 223-Z-axis motion unit, 224-R-rotation unit, 3-Feeding assembly, 31-Feeding seat, 311-Feeding groove, 32-Buffer hole. Detailed Implementation

[0060] To better understand the above technical solutions, a detailed description of the solutions will be provided below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0061] The terminology used in the embodiments of this invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular forms “a,” “the,” and “the” as used in the embodiments of this invention and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms, and “multiple” generally includes at least two unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0062] It should also be noted that the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that an article or device that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such an article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the article or device that includes said element.

[0063] like Figures 1 to 3As shown, the present invention provides a visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles, including a feeding assembly, a pick-and-place assembly, and a feeding assembly, for handling microneedles with a diameter of 1.0 mm or less, preferably 0.8 mm or less, and more preferably 0.6 mm or less; specifically:

[0064] (1) Feeding assembly 1 includes a vibratory plate 11 and a vision screening unit 12. The vibratory plate 11 vibrates and disperses the microneedles inside it. The vision screening unit 12 acquires images of the microneedles inside the vibratory plate 11, screens and determines the independent microneedles, and feeds back the position and pose information of the independent microneedles.

[0065] The visual sorting unit 12 includes a front-loading visual acquisition device and a rear-loading visual acquisition device;

[0066] The front-mounted visual acquisition device is positioned at intervals facing the vibratory feeder and acquires images of the microneedles inside the vibratory feeder. It then filters and identifies individual microneedles and provides feedback on their static pose information. The rear-mounted visual acquisition device is positioned along the reciprocating motion path of the suction head and acquires the dynamic pose information of the individual microneedles on the suction head.

[0067] The positioning accuracy of the visual screening unit 12 is ±0.005mm. For example, but not limited to, and optional, the following configuration can be used: a 20-megapixel high-speed area array camera with a frame rate ≥60fps, supporting global shutter to avoid image blurring during micro-nickel tube movement and ensure image clarity. The optical lens can be a 10-50mm manual zoom industrial lens with a distortion rate ≤0.1%, a working distance of 50-150mm, and the imaging range can be flexibly adjusted according to the micro-nickel tube placement scenario, achieving a recognition success rate of over 99%, preferably over 99.5%. The visual screening unit's light source system can use a ring-shaped white LED light source with adjustable brightness from 0-10000 lux, using diffuse reflection illumination to eliminate surface reflection interference from the micro-nickel tube and highlight the tube's contour features. The image processing unit can optionally be equipped with a quad-core industrial-grade processor to efficiently complete micro-nickel tube feature extraction, position calculation, and attitude determination.

[0068] (2) Pick-up and drop-off assembly 2 includes a suction head 21, a pressure regulating pick-up and drop-off structure and a drive structure 22. The suction head 21 is provided with a plurality of micro holes that are connected to the pressure regulating pick-up and drop-off structure. The independent micro needles are sucked up by generating negative pressure at the micro holes. The drive structure 22 drives the suction head 21 to reciprocate between the feeding assembly 1 and the feeding assembly 3. According to the position and orientation information of the independent micro needles, the independent micro needles are transported to the feeding groove 311 of the feeding assembly 3 to complete the feeding operation.

[0069] The suction head 21 uses a vacuum suction cup with a diameter of 0.2-1.0 mm, which is suitable for microtubes with a diameter of less than 1.0 mm, such as micro-nickel tubes with an outer diameter of 0.2-0.8 mm. The vacuum degree of the suction cup is adjustable from -50 kPa to -90 kPa, ensuring stable adsorption and gripping without damaging the surface of the micro-nickel tube. On the other hand, in order to cooperate with the unloading and other operations, the suction cup also has a positive pressure blowing function through the connection of the pressure regulating pick-and-place structure.

[0070] The drive structure 22 can employ an X / Y / Z / R four-axis servo motor, equipped with a high-precision ball screw (positioning accuracy within ±0.003mm) and linear guide rails to achieve smooth and precise movement of the actuator. The R-rotation unit includes an attitude adjustment module, which drives the suction head to rotate around its own circumference based on the position and posture information of the independent microneedle, adjusting the suction head to match the position and posture of the independent microneedle with the feed groove 311. For example, the R-rotation unit of the drive structure 22 integrates a rotary servo motor (rotational accuracy within ±0.01°) and a tilt adjustment mechanism. Based on the static and / or dynamic position and posture information fed back by the vision screening unit, it can adjust the angle of the suction head's picking end in real time to ensure that the posture of the micro-nickel tube after picking up the material meets the assembly requirements of the feed groove 311 and subsequent fixing holes and transition carriers.

[0071] (3) Feeding assembly 3 includes a feeding seat 31 and a pressure regulating buffer structure. The feeding seat 31 is provided with at least one feeding groove 311 whose groove width matches the diameter of the micro needle. The pressure regulating buffer structure provides buffer positive pressure or positioning negative pressure to the feeding groove 311.

[0072] Optional but not limited to (4) a molding assembly (not shown). The molding assembly can be configured in various ways depending on the molding target of the microneedle. Given the small size and light weight of the microneedle, especially when it has thin wall characteristics, it is preferable to avoid using existing gripping / clamping components and to use a fixing hole and its internal transition carrier to surround and position the microneedle, providing a gentle positioning method that provides uniform force in all directions on the radial and axial sides.

[0073] This invention ensures that the microneedles are picked up in the correct preset posture through the visual screening unit 12, guaranteeing the alignment foundation from the source. In the microneedle feeding and release stage, a dynamic control strategy of buffering followed by adsorption is adopted. Specifically, the buffer positive pressure generated by the pressure regulating buffer structure forms a uniform gas lubricating film between the microneedle and the feeding groove 311, converting the unavoidable rigid collision energy into controllable viscous damping dissipation, fundamentally eliminating the bouncing and tumbling problems of micron-sized parts. Subsequently, the positive pressure airflow pressure is reduced, the air supply is stopped, or a weak negative pressure is provided, so that the buffered microneedles are gently placed in the feeding groove 311, realizing a lossless transition of the microneedles from high-speed transport to static position, solving the positioning failure problem caused by kinetic energy loss in traditional methods.

[0074] The visual screening unit 12, through the coordinated layout of the front-receiving visual acquisition device 121 and the rear-receiving visual acquisition device 122, constructs a multi-node, high-frequency pose monitoring network for the entire process of microneedle grasping and transfer. The front-receiving visual acquisition device 121 is responsible for grasping guidance and initial pose verification to ensure accurate grasping; the rear-receiving visual acquisition device 122 continuously tracks and monitors during transfer, detecting unexpected deviations and rotations caused by vibration, inertia, or airflow in real time, and providing accurate pre-correction data for the next stage of placement operation (correction refers to the adjustment of the microneedle pose by the pick-and-place component 2 based on the results of the visual screening unit 12 to achieve correction). This staged visual architecture forms a continuous perception-decision-compensation closed loop, significantly enhancing the system's robustness against environmental interference, and improving the final microneedle placement accuracy from the open-loop repeatability accuracy of the actuator to the closed-loop control accuracy under visual feedback.

[0075] In a preferred embodiment, the visual screening unit 12 further includes a visual calibration device, located downstream of the post-removal visual acquisition device 122. This device performs a final calibration and confirmation of the pose fine-tuning results before material release, and controls the drive structure 22 to adjust the pose if the pose does not meet requirements. This ensures that the microneedle axis is substantially and completely aligned with the axis of the feed trough 311, improving material release accuracy and reducing the difficulty of subsequent correction. Furthermore, eliminating the axial deviation between the microneedle and the feed trough 311 before material release provides optimal initial conditions for subsequent pneumatic soft landing, thereby elevating material release accuracy and reliability to a new level. This constitutes a key redundant node in the five-level closed-loop control system of material removal, transfer, pre-alignment, release, and verification, intercepting accumulated errors from previous stages and greatly enhancing the system's fault tolerance and robustness. In addition, continuous alignment data provides a basis for process optimization and predictive maintenance, ensuring overall production efficiency and stability under high precision.

[0076] The feeding assembly 3 also includes a vision positioning unit, which is positioned corresponding to the feeding slot 311. The feeding slot 311 is aligned with the fixing hole and transition carrier of the molding assembly. After the vision positioning unit performs pose detection on the microneedles placed into the feeding slot 311, it can effectively prevent friction damage when the microneedles are rapidly fed into the fixing hole and transition carrier. Both the vision screening unit 12 and the vision positioning unit can use CMOS industrial cameras. Integrating the vision positioning unit at the feeding slot 311 constitutes the final closed-loop point for process quality control. Its effects are reflected in three aspects: First, real-time result judgment, performing final pose measurement on the microneedles after material placement to achieve online full inspection and prevent defective products from flowing into the next process; Second, closed-loop process feedback, which can feed back the detected micron-level deviations to the upper control system in real time, triggering micro-blowing based on the pressure-regulating pick-and-place structure for fine adjustment, or providing adaptive correction values ​​for the gripping and rotation parameters of subsequent similar parts, realizing the system's self-learning and accuracy iteration; Third, data-driven optimization, the accumulated visual data provides an objective basis for analyzing process fluctuations, locating the root cause of faults, and optimizing control parameters, promoting the upgrading of production processes from experience-dependent black-box operations to data-transparent intelligent operations.

[0077] Furthermore, the pressure regulating buffer structure can be designed to have better buffering and fixing effects. In practical application scenarios, the pressure regulating buffer structure may include multiple buffer holes 32 set in the inner wall of the feed trough 311, as well as a positive pressure source and a negative pressure source connected to the buffer holes 32 through an air supply channel. An air supply channel is provided with an air path control valve; the air path control valve is configured to perform the following cyclic operation: (1) the air path control valve connects the positive pressure source and the buffer hole 32 so that the positive pressure source provides positive pressure airflow to the feed trough 311, forming a buffer air film in the feed trough 311; (2) the air path control valve reduces the pressure of the positive pressure airflow delivered by the positive pressure source, or the air path control valve switches to connect the negative pressure source and the buffer hole, or closes the air supply channel to restore the ambient air pressure. Through the cyclic operation of the air path control valve, the air pressure can be precisely controlled in a programmed and timed manner to achieve the optimal path for pneumatic soft landing. The control sequence of this cyclic operation physically decomposes the microneedle feeding process into two main organically connected stages: high pressure buffer establishment and constant speed damping settling. Its core effect lies in actively planning and controlling the force curve during the microneedle's descent, ensuring that its kinetic energy is absorbed smoothly and linearly by the air film. This allows the microneedle to contact the bottom of the feed trough 311 at a near-zero velocity, and even under weak positive pressure support, the microneedle does not actually adhere to the feed trough 311. This achieves active management of the collision dynamics process at the microscale, resulting in ultra-high precision and zero-damage microneedle placement. Specifically, when the air path control valve gradually reduces the pressure of the positive pressure airflow delivered by the positive pressure source, the pressure drop rate of this positive pressure airflow ranges from 0.1 kPa / s to 15 kPa / s. This is a crucial process parameter, verified through dynamic simulation and experiments, for microneedles with a diameter of less than 1.0 mm. This parameter range directly relates to the microneedle's settling velocity and buffering effect. Too low a rate will unnecessarily prolong the operation cycle and affect efficiency; too high a rate will cause the air film support force to decay too quickly, leading to buffering failure. The optimization range determined by this invention ensures that, under typical microneedle mass and tank size, the gas film has sufficient time (typically tens to hundreds of milliseconds) to dissipate the kinetic energy of the microneedles through viscous dissipation, so that its settling velocity is reliably limited to the order of millimeters per second, thereby eliminating bouncing while ensuring efficiency.

[0078] In a preferred embodiment, the buffer feeding includes forming a buffer air film in the feed groove. After the suction head stops releasing the microneedle under negative pressure, the microneedle will not directly or only slightly touch the feed groove under the action of the buffer air film, and will be slowly and appropriately accommodated in the feed groove. Then, the positive pressure in the feed groove is slowly reduced, and the position of the microneedle in the feed groove is detected synchronously by the vision positioning unit. After the position meets the requirements, the microneedle is pushed from the feed groove into the molding die for subsequent molding processes. Since there is still a weak positive pressure in the feed groove, this pushing and molding process can basically completely avoid friction.

[0079] In another preferred embodiment, after the microneedle is slowly placed in the feed groove, the positive pressure is gradually stopped and restored to ambient air pressure. Alternatively, a relatively preferred method is to use an air circuit control valve to switch and create a weak negative pressure positioning in the feed groove. After the visual positioning unit detects that the microneedle's posture in the feed groove meets the requirements, the microneedle is pushed from the feed groove into the molding die for subsequent molding processes. Since the surface roughness Ra of the feed groove is below 0.1 μm, preferably below 0.08 μm, the friction loss during the pushing and mold-in process is also very low. The maximum negative pressure of the feed groove buffer hole is between -5 kPa and -20 kPa, a range based on a comprehensive consideration of the microneedle's weight, surface friction, bending strength, and subsequent process requirements. The adsorption force should not be too large; it should only be sufficient to slightly position the microneedle. Excessive adsorption force (too high negative pressure) is not conducive to the non-destructive implementation of the pushing and mold-in process.

[0080] See Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, when the suction head 21 of this invention suctions and transfers microneedles, the driving structure 22 may include an X-axis motion unit 221, a Y-axis motion unit 222, a Z-axis motion unit 223, and an R-rotation unit 224. Each of the X-axis motion unit 221, Y-axis motion unit 222, and Z-axis motion unit 223 includes a slide rail, a slider slidably mounted on the slide rail, and a driving component for sliding the slider. The slide rail of the X-axis motion unit 221 extends from the feeding assembly 1 to the infeed assembly 3, and the slide rails of the X-axis motion unit 221, Y-axis motion unit 222, and Z-axis motion unit 223 are perpendicular to each other. The R-rotation unit 224 is fixed to the suction head 21 to drive the suction head 21 to rotate around its own circumference. The rotational degree of freedom of the R-rotation unit 224 is integrated into the basic three-axis translation function of the X-axis motion unit 221, Y-axis motion unit 222, and Z-axis motion unit 223, providing real-time, online attitude closed-loop correction capability. This allows the device to dynamically adjust the spatial angle of the microneedles during transport based on real-time feedback from the vision screening unit 12. Specifically, before the microneedles reach the feed trough 311, their axis is precisely aligned with the trough's direction, perfectly compensating for posture errors caused by initial grasping deviations, transport vibrations, or microneedle asymmetry. This not only significantly improves the success rate of one-time placement for microneedles with orientation requirements (such as beveled probes or asymmetric microstructures) but also avoids the need for complex secondary adjustments, significantly improving overall operational efficiency and process consistency. Furthermore, the drive structure 22 can directly utilize a robotic arm with transport and posture adjustment capabilities, allowing for selection based on actual scenario requirements.

[0081] When the drive structure 22 drives the suction head 21 to pick up the microneedles, the structure and function of the suction head 21 can be selected and designed. In actual application scenarios, the suction head 21 meets at least one of the following: (1) The end face of the suction head 21 with micropores is a plane or a contoured surface that matches the curvature of the microneedle surface; the contoured surface adopted by the suction head 21 greatly improves the contact sealing performance, so that reliable adsorption can be achieved under low negative pressure (such as below -10kPa), greatly reducing the adsorption stress on the fragile microneedle structure and preventing microscopic damage. (2) The suction head 21 is made of a flexible material with an elastic modulus in the range of 1MPa to 1000MPa; it cleverly balances compliance and support; it can both conform to the curved surface of the microneedle to ensure stable gripping and maintain accurate shape during high-speed movement. (3) The suction head 21 is equipped with an electrostatic removal unit; its integrated electrostatic removal unit can actively neutralize the charge, eliminate the interference of electrostatic force on the extremely small microneedles, and solve the random failure caused by electrostatic adhesion during adsorption / release. (4) The suction head 21 generates positive pressure at the micropore through the pressure regulating pick-and-place structure to blow independent microneedles; the positive pressure blowing function provides an active and controllable release force in coordination with the pneumatic buffer, realizing precise management of the release timing and force. Among them, the pressure regulating pick-and-place structure includes a power air source, a vacuum generator and a positive pressure blowing branch. The power air source is connected to the injection port of the vacuum generator and the positive pressure blowing branch, respectively. The air extraction port of the vacuum generator and the positive pressure blowing branch are both connected to the micropore. The power air source provides positive pressure gas to the micropore through the positive pressure blowing branch to realize low-pressure blowing operation, and realizes negative pressure adsorption of microneedles on the micropore through the vacuum generator.

[0082] Furthermore, to ensure that the effect of the suction head 21 in absorbing microneedles can be used for subsequent adjustment or judgment of air pressure, suction effect, etc., a force sensor can be installed inside the suction head 21. This force sensor can be a miniature thin-film piezoresistive or capacitive force sensor, capable of sensing in real time the changes in contact force or adsorption force between the microneedle and the suction head 21, and between the microneedle and the feed groove 311, during the suction and release process. This provides the most direct mechanical feedback for accurately determining the contact event between the microneedle and the suction head 21, replacing or assisting visual judgment; determining the reliability of image monitoring adsorption; and providing a closed-loop force feedback signal for the air pressure control of positive pressure airflow.

[0083] In practical applications, the number of suction heads 21 can be selected and set according to actual processing requirements. When multiple suction heads 21 are set, the vision screening unit 12 screens and identifies individual microneedles, and then the drive structure 22 is controlled to make one suction head 21 pick up the individual microneedle. The vision screening unit 12 then screens and identifies the individual microneedle again, and another suction head 21 picks it up, until all suction heads 21 have picked up an individual microneedle. Then, the drive structure 22 transfers and conveys the multiple suction heads 21 to the feeding assembly 3. Alternatively, the vision screening unit 12 can screen and identify multiple individual microneedles in a single step, and then the multiple suction heads 21 can pick up the individual microneedles in one or more steps. Multiple feeding slots 311 can be set at the feeding seat 31 to allow simultaneous or sequential feeding of multiple microneedles.

[0084] When the drive structure 22 moves the suction head 21 to the position of the feed trough 311, the structure of the feed trough 311 can be adapted to the microneedles and the pressure regulating buffer structure. In practical applications, the feed trough 311 can be a V-shaped groove or a U-shaped groove, and the buffer hole 32 is set on the bottom and / or side walls of the feed trough 311. The integrated design of the feed trough 311 with the buffer hole 32, using a V-shaped or U-shaped groove, achieves deep coupling of mechanical positioning and pneumatic function. The feed trough 311, using its geometric configuration, provides a self-centering guide for the falling microneedles, initially constraining their horizontal degrees of freedom. The buffer hole 32, integrated into the wall or bottom of the trough, is the direct physical interface for achieving a uniform gas film and adsorption negative pressure. Its distribution is optimized through flow field to ensure that the force exerted by the airflow on the microneedles in the circumferential direction is uniform and consistent, avoiding overturning moments. This integrated structure-function design not only saves space but also improves the reliability, stability, and maintainability of the system, avoiding alignment and interference problems caused by external buffer devices.

[0085] The invention also includes a control unit, which is signal-connected to the feeding assembly 1, the pick-and-place assembly 2, and the feeding assembly 3. It can collect data through the visual screening unit 12 and the visual positioning unit, and can also control the vibratory feeder 11, the pressure regulating buffer structure, the pressure regulating pick-and-place structure, and the drive structure 22 by loading / entering the corresponding module data. Furthermore, the control unit has multiple air pressure-time curve templates pre-stored. Based on the measured quality of the microneedle (which can be estimated by image size or calculated or pre-measured by the air pressure response during aspiration) and the measured depth of the feeding groove 311 (which can be pre-obtained by the visual positioning unit or integrated laser ranging), the optimal air pressure buffer curve (including the duration of each stage of the air path control valve cycle operation and the pressure drop rate of the positive pressure airflow, where each stage of the air path control valve cycle operation refers to cycle operation (1) and cycle operation (2)) can be selected. This allows for optimal buffering of microneedles from different batches with slight differences, greatly expanding the process window and compatibility of the device. In practical applications, the buffer time for gradually reducing the positive pressure of the positive airflow delivered by the positive pressure source until it drops to the ambient air pressure or negative pressure can be determined when the air circuit control valve performs cyclic operation (1). Then, the positive pressure of the positive airflow at different times can be determined based on the time it takes to reduce the positive pressure of the airflow when actually entering cyclic operation (2). The buffer time can be determined by the microneedle mass, the depth of the feed groove 311, the effective working area of ​​the buffer gas film, and the maximum negative pressure of the buffer hole 32 of the feed groove 311. Specifically, the first intermediate coefficient of time is determined by multiplying the microneedle mass and the depth of the feed groove 311. The second intermediate coefficient of time is determined by multiplying the buffer experience coefficient, the airflow pressure conversion coefficient, the effective working area of ​​the buffer gas film, the absolute value of the maximum negative pressure of the buffer hole 32 of the feed groove 311, and the proportional coefficient. The optimal time is determined by the ratio of the first intermediate coefficient of time and the second intermediate coefficient of time. The buffer time is determined by multiplying the optimal time and the coverage coefficient. Correspondingly, the buffer empirical coefficient can be obtained through experimental calibration using standard parts. The airflow pressure conversion coefficient is related to the structure and layout of the buffer hole 32 and can be calibrated through flow field simulation or experiments. The scaling factor is 0.3 to 0.6, and the coverage factor is 2 to 4. The positive pressure airflow pressure at different times can be determined by the maximum positive pressure of the cyclic operation (1). Specifically, the positive pressure airflow pressure at different times is determined by multiplying the negative value of the ratio of the actual time of entering the cyclic operation (2) to the buffer time with the maximum positive pressure of the cyclic operation (1).

[0086] like Figure 4 As shown, the present invention also provides a microneedle visual buffer pick-and-place method, which uses the aforementioned microneedle visual buffer pick-and-place device, and the method includes the following steps:

[0087] S1. The visual screening unit acquires images of the microneedles in the vibratory feeder, filters and identifies independent microneedles, and feeds back the pose information of the independent microneedles.

[0088] S2. The pick-and-place component uses the suction head to draw up the determined independent microneedles under negative pressure. The drive structure drives the suction head to move from the feeding component to the infeed component. At the same time, according to the position and posture information of the independent microneedles, the suction head is adjusted to match the position and posture of the independent microneedles with the infeed groove.

[0089] The pressure regulating and buffering structure provides a buffering positive pressure in the feed trough;

[0090] S3. The pick-and-place assembly stops applying negative pressure to the independent microneedles, and the independent microneedles are buffered into the feed trough. The pressure regulating and buffering structure stops buffering the positive pressure and switches to generating positioning negative pressure in the feed trough to complete the feeding operation of the independent microneedles.

[0091] Step S3 also includes at least one of the following:

[0092] (1) Before the negative pressure of the pick-up and drop-off assembly is stopped, the static electricity of the independent microneedles is removed, and the independent microneedles fall freely after the negative pressure is stopped;

[0093] (2) After the suction head stops the negative pressure, the pressure adjustment and pick-up structure generates positive pressure at the micropore to blow the independent microneedles.

[0094] (3) Perform position detection on the microneedles placed in the feed trough and fine-tune the relative position of the microneedles and the feed trough using the pressure regulating buffer structure.

[0095] The microneedle visual buffer pick-and-place device and microneedle visual buffer pick-and-place method of the present invention can not only efficiently realize the fully automated operation of picking, feeding and pushing materials, but also reduce the intensity and error of manual operation. Compared with manual operation, it can improve efficiency and significantly reduce the failure rate.

[0096] Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, those skilled in the art, upon learning the basic inventive concept, can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including both the preferred embodiments and all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the invention. Clearly, those skilled in the art can make various alterations and modifications to the invention without departing from its spirit and scope. Thus, if these modifications and modifications of the invention fall within the scope of the claims and their equivalents, the invention is also intended to include these modifications and modifications.

Claims

1. A visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles, characterized in that, Includes feeding assembly, pick-and-place assembly, and infeed assembly; The feeding assembly includes a vibratory feeder and a vision sorting unit. The vibratory feeder vibrates and disperses the microneedles inside, and the vision sorting unit acquires images of the microneedles inside the vibratory feeder, sorts and identifies independent microneedles, and feeds back the position and pose information of the independent microneedles. The feeding assembly includes a feeding seat and a pressure regulating buffer structure. The feeding seat has at least one feeding groove with a width matching the diameter of the microneedle, and the surface roughness Ra of the feeding groove is below 0.1 μm. The pressure regulating buffer structure includes multiple buffer holes disposed on the inner wall of the feeding groove, and a positive pressure source and a negative pressure source connected to the buffer holes through an air supply channel. The air supply channel is equipped with an air path control valve to provide buffered positive or negative pressure to the feeding groove. The air path control valve is configured to perform the following cyclic operation: (1) The air circuit control valve connects the positive pressure source and the buffer hole so that the positive pressure source provides positive pressure airflow to the feed tank and forms a buffer air film in the feed tank; (2) The gas control valve reduces the pressure of the positive airflow delivered by the positive pressure source, or the gas control valve switches the connection between the negative pressure source and the buffer hole, or closes the gas supply channel to restore the ambient air pressure; The pick-and-place assembly includes a suction head, a pressure-regulating pick-and-place structure, and a drive structure. The suction head is provided with several micro-holes that communicate with the pressure-regulating pick-and-place structure. By generating negative pressure at the micro-holes, the independent microneedles are picked up. The drive structure drives the suction head to reciprocate between the feeding assembly and the infeed assembly, and delivers the independent microneedles to the infeed trough according to the position and orientation information of the independent microneedles to complete the feeding operation.

2. The visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The drive structure includes an X-axis motion unit, a Y-axis motion unit, a Z-axis motion unit, and an R-axis rotation unit; The X-axis motion unit, Y-axis motion unit, and Z-axis motion unit all include a slide rail, a slider sliding on the slide rail, and a driving component for driving the slider to slide. The slide rail of the X-axis motion unit extends from the feeding component to the infeed component, and the slide rails of the X-axis motion unit, Y-axis motion unit, and Z-axis motion unit are perpendicular to each other. The R-rotating unit is fixed to the suction head to drive the suction head to rotate around its own circumference.

3. The visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The suction head satisfies at least one of the following: The end face of the suction head with micropores is either a plane or a contoured surface that matches the curvature of the microneedle surface; The suction head is made of a flexible material with an elastic modulus ranging from 1 MPa to 1000 MPa; The suction head is equipped with an electrostatic removal unit; The suction head generates positive pressure at the micropores through a pressure-regulating pick-and-place structure to blow independent microneedles.

4. The visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The visual sorting unit includes a front-end visual acquisition device and a rear-end visual acquisition device; The front-loading vision acquisition device is positioned directly opposite the vibratory feeder at intervals and acquires images of the microneedles inside the vibratory feeder. It then filters and identifies individual microneedles and provides feedback on the static pose information of the individual microneedles. The post-removal visual acquisition device is set on the reciprocating motion path of the suction head to collect the dynamic pose information of the independent microneedles on the suction head.

5. The visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The feed trough is a V-shaped trough or a U-shaped trough, and the buffer holes are provided on the bottom and / or the two side walls of the feed trough.

6. The visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The maximum negative pressure of the micro-orifice of the suction head is between -50 kPa and -90 kPa, and the maximum negative pressure of the buffer orifice of the feed trough is between -5 kPa and -20 kPa.

7. The visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles as described in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The feeding assembly also includes a vision positioning unit and a feeding unit; The visual positioning unit is set up in the feed trough to perform pose detection on the microneedles placed in the feed trough; The feeding unit pushes the microneedles that have passed the visual positioning unit's inspection from the feeding groove into the molding die.

8. A method for visually buffering and picking up / placing microneedles, characterized in that, The method using the visual buffer pick-and-place device for microneedles as described in any one of claims 1 to 7 includes the following steps: S1. The visual screening unit acquires images of the microneedles in the vibratory feeder, filters and identifies independent microneedles, and feeds back the pose information of the independent microneedles. S2. The pick-and-place component uses the suction head to draw up the determined independent microneedles under negative pressure. The drive structure drives the suction head to move from the feeding component to the infeed component. At the same time, according to the position and posture information of the independent microneedles, the suction head is adjusted to match the position and posture of the independent microneedles with the infeed groove. The pressure regulating and buffering structure provides a buffering positive pressure in the feed trough; S3. The pick-and-place assembly stops applying negative pressure to the independent microneedles, and the independent microneedles are buffered into the feed trough. The pressure regulating and buffering structure reduces the positive pressure in the feed trough, or switches to generating a positioning negative pressure in the feed trough, or restores the ambient air pressure to complete the feeding operation of the independent microneedles.

9. The microneedle visual buffer pick-and-place method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, Step S3 also includes at least one of the following: (1) Before the negative pressure of the pick-up and drop-off assembly is stopped, the static electricity of the independent microneedles is removed, and the independent microneedles fall freely after the negative pressure is stopped; (2) After the suction head stops the negative pressure, the pressure adjustment and pick-up structure generates positive pressure at the micropore to blow the independent microneedles. (3) Perform position detection on the microneedles placed in the feed trough and fine-tune the relative position of the microneedles and the feed trough using the pressure regulating buffer structure.

Images