Automatic processing method for aerogel sheet material

Abstract

The invention relates to an aerogel sheet automatic processing method, which relates to the field of aerogel processing, and comprises the following steps: a sheet sucker sucks an aerogel sheet to a polishing device; the grinding device grinds the top of the aerogel sheet, and the dust removal device absorbs dust from the lower portion of the rack during grinding; after the top end face is polished, the sheet clamp clamps the aerogel sheet from the position deviating from the symmetric line of the rack and the aerogel sheet through the air pipe, the rack moves to the conveying device, the sheet clamp is overturned by 180 degrees through the motor, the rack moves to the position below the aerogel sheet again and sucks the aerogel sheet, and the polishing device polishes the top end face of the aerogel sheet at present; after the detection device judges that grinding is qualified, the aerogel sheets are conveyed to the stacking device, and the aerogel sheets are stacked according to the set layer number; and finally, the stacked aerogel sheets are packaged through the packaging device. The automatic production line has the beneficial effects that efficient and accurate automatic production can be achieved, and the production efficiency and the product quality are greatly improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of aerogel processing, and particularly relates to an automatic processing method of aerogel sheet. BACKGROUND

[0002] Aerogel is an ultralight solid material with a nano-porous structure, and is widely used in building insulation, new energy battery insulation, petroleum and chemical industries, etc. due to its extremely low thermal conductivity (0.013-0.025 W / (m·K)), high specific surface area (500-1200 m 2 / g) and excellent thermal insulation performance.

[0003] However, aerogel material has problems such as high brittleness, easy powdering and poor surface flatness during processing, especially after sheet forming, usually needs to be polished, cleaned, measured in thickness and packaged, etc. post-processing procedures to meet the requirements of industrial applications.

[0004] At present, the post-processing of aerogel sheet mainly depends on manual or semi-automatic equipment, and there are many technical bottlenecks as follows: Low efficiency and insufficient precision of polishing process: traditional polishing equipment mostly uses single-sided abrasive belt or drum polishing, which is difficult to realize synchronous processing of both sides, and has poor adaptability to different sizes (especially large-sized sheets).

[0005] Severe dust pollution: aerogel is easy to produce nano-sized dust during polishing, and traditional dust removal equipment is difficult to collect efficiently, resulting in a poor working environment and an explosion risk.

[0006] Low automation degree of detection and packaging: in the existing technology, thickness detection mostly adopts manual sampling (such as micrometer measurement), and packaging relies on manual sheet stacking and film winding, resulting in poor consistency of finished products.

[0007] Therefore, in view of the above problems, it is necessary to provide an automatic processing method of aerogel sheet. SUMMARY

[0008] (I) Technical problems to be solved The technical problem to be solved by the present application is to solve the problems of low polishing efficiency and insufficient full automation of existing aerogel sheet processing.

[0009] (II) Technical scheme In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application provides an automatic processing method of aerogel sheet, comprising the following steps: Ⅰ. The gantry is driven by the transportation chain to move to the conveying device, the sheet suction cup sucks the aerogel sheet, and then moves to the polishing device under the drive of the transportation chain; II. The polishing device polishes the top of the aerogel sheet, with a polishing thickness accuracy of ±0.1 mm, and can automatically adjust the polishing speed according to the size of the sheet: ≥10 sheets / min when the single-side size is ≥500 mm, and ≥32 sheets / min when the single-side size is <500 mm; while polishing, the dust removal device absorbs dust from below the rack; III. After polishing the top end face, the sheet suction cup no longer sucks the aerogel sheet, the sheet clamp clamps the aerogel sheet from a position deviating from the symmetry line of the rack and the aerogel sheet through the air pipe, the rack moves to the conveying device, the sheet clamp is turned over 180° by the motor, the rack moves to the aerogel sheet again and sucks the aerogel sheet, and the polishing device polishes the top end face of the current aerogel sheet; IV. After the detection device judges that the polishing is qualified, the rack moves to the conveying belt, and is transported to the stacking device by the conveying belt to stack the aerogel sheets according to the set number of layers; V. Finally, the packaged aerogel sheet is packaged by the packaging device.

[0010] As a further description of the present application, preferably, the diameter of the driven polishing roller in the polishing device is 200 mm, the surface is coated with 80-120 mesh diamond abrasive, and the pressure of the driven polishing roller is adjusted by a servo motor, with an adjustment range of 0-500 N.

[0011] As a further description of the present application, preferably, the rack is provided with a plurality of brackets around the sheet suction cup, the top end face height of the bracket is lower than the top height of the sheet suction cup, and the driven polishing roller presses the aerogel sheet towards the bracket to lift the aerogel sheet during polishing.

[0012] As a further description of the present application, preferably, the dust removal device is a three-stage dust removal system, the first stage is a cyclone separator to handle large particle dust, the second stage is a bag dust removal filter to handle medium particle dust, and the third stage is a HEPA filter to handle micron-level dust, and the dust concentration at the final outlet is ≤10 mg / m 3 .

[0013] As a further description of the present application, preferably, the system air volume of the dust removal device is 2000 m 3 / h to control the noise within the range of <60 dB.

[0014] As a further description of the present application, preferably, the detection device adopts a thickness measuring sensor with a detection range of 0.5-10 mm and an accuracy of ≤0.01 mm, the detection device measures the thickness of the aerogel sheet being polished by the polishing device or the thickness of the aerogel sheet after polishing in real time, and sorts out unqualified aerogel sheets, the unqualified products are automatically discharged and trigger sound and light alarms.

[0015] As a further explanation of the present invention, preferably, the detection device is equipped with two sets of non-contact laser thickness gauges at both the front and rear of the table's movement range, with a measurement frequency of 1000Hz, to obtain thickness data of the aerogel sheet before and after polishing.

[0016] As a further explanation of the present invention, preferably, the stacking device adopts a servo motor driven lifting platform with a positioning accuracy of ±0.1mm.

[0017] As a further explanation of the present invention, preferably, the stacking device is provided with a visual positioning system and an anti-displacement positioning mechanism to obtain the number of disc layers and ensure that the discs are stacked neatly.

[0018] As a further explanation of the present invention, preferably, the packaging device adopts a fully automatic wrapping machine, which seals the stacked aerogel sheets by wrapping a film around the outside of the stacked aerogel sheets and using hot air shrinkage.

[0019] (III) Beneficial Effects The above-described technical solution of the present invention has the following advantages: 1. This invention integrates grinding, dust removal, inspection, stacking and packaging functions through an integrated design, which solves the efficiency bottleneck caused by the dispersion of processes, realizes full automation of grinding, inspection and packaging, and improves efficiency by more than 50%; 2. High-precision grinding (±0.1mm) and inspection (≤0.01mm) ensure product consistency with a pass rate of ≥97%. Moreover, compared with existing independent inspection devices, this invention achieves an inspection speed of 32 pieces / min through online thickness measurement and automatic sorting linkage. 3. Employing a flip-grinding technology increases efficiency by more than 3 times; 4. The modular structure facilitates maintenance, the dust removal system meets environmental protection standards, and the noise level is below 60dB. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of the stand and sheet clamp of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a side view of the stand and sheet clamp of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the stand and the sheet clamp of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the internal driving structure of the sheet clamp of the present invention.

[0021] In the diagram: 1. Stand; 2. Sheet suction cup; 21. Pipe connector; 3. Bracket; 4. Adjusting rod; 5. Air pipe; 51. Piston; 52. Rack; 53. Gear; 54. Connector; 6. Steering sleeve; 7. Sheet clamp; 71. Fixed clamp; 72. Movable clamp; 8. Motor; 9. Transmission device; 91. Pulley; 92. Belt; 93. Bearing. Detailed Implementation

[0022] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] An automated processing method for aerogel sheets relates to a fully automated processing equipment that integrates a conveying device, a grinding device, a detection device, a stacking device, and a packaging device. The equipment combines... Figure 1 , Figure 2 The conveying device includes a feeding port, a transport chain, a platform 1, sheet suction cups 2, a bracket 3, and a conveyor belt. Combined with... Figure 3 , Figure 4 The grinding device includes an active grinding roller, an adjusting rod 4, an air pipe 5, a steering sleeve 6, a sheet clamp 7, a motor 8, and a transmission device 9.

[0024] Based on the above equipment, the specific processing method includes the following steps: I. The sheet suction cup 2 is connected to the air pump through the pipe joint 21 and pipe on the stand 1. The stand 1 moves to the feeding port of the conveying device under the drive of the conveying chain. The feeding port pushes a piece of aerogel sheet above the sheet suction cup 2. The air pump draws air so that the sheet suction cup 2 picks up the aerogel sheet. Then, it moves to the grinding device under the drive of the conveying chain.

[0025] II. The active grinding roller in the grinding device has a diameter of 200mm and is coated with 80-120 mesh diamond abrasive. The pressure of the active grinding roller on the aerogel sheet is adjusted by a servo motor, with an adjustment range of 0-500N. The grinding device is also equipped with an automatic compensation system to monitor abrasive wear in real time and automatically adjust the grinding depth.

[0026] The frame 1 has four supports 3 around the sheet suction cup 2. The top surface of the supports 3 is circular and its height is lower than the top height of the sheet suction cup 2. During grinding, the active grinding roller presses the aerogel sheet against the supports 3 to support the aerogel sheet. This allows the grinding device to perform stable grinding on the top of the aerogel sheet with a grinding thickness accuracy of ±0.1mm. The grinding speed can be automatically adjusted according to the sheet size: ≥10 sheets / min when the single side size is ≥500mm, and ≥32 sheets / min when the single side size is <500mm. At the same time, the dust removal device absorbs dust from below the frame 1. The dust removal system is a three-stage system: a cyclone separator for large dust particles, a bag filter for medium-sized dust particles, and a HEPA filter for micron-sized dust particles. The final outlet dust concentration is ≤10mg / m³. 3 The dust removal system has a system air volume of 2000 m³ / h. 3 / h to keep the noise level below 60dB.

[0027] III. After the top surface of the aerogel sheet is sanded, the sheet suction cup 2 will no longer pick up the aerogel sheet. (Combined) Figure 4 The air pump connected to the air pipe 5 draws air, and the piston 51 drives the connector 54 and the rack 52 to slide closer to the air pipe 5. Since the gear 53 meshes with the rack 52, the movable clamp 72 fixed to the gear 53 rotates downward and clamps the aerogel sheet with the fixed clamp 71 located below the aerogel sheet. Then the platform 1 moves to the conveying device to provide space for the aerogel sheet to flip.

[0028] After the platform 1 is removed, the motor 8 starts, causing the pulley 91 connected to the motor 8 in the transmission device 9 to rotate. Through the transmission of the belt 92, the pulley 91 fixed to the steering sleeve 6 rotates. Under the action of the bearing 93 and the connector 54, the rack 52, the gear 53, and the sheet clamp 7 rotate 180° with the steering sleeve 6. When rotated to 120°, it can contact the grounded metal rod on one side of the adjusting rod 4, releasing the static electricity on the aerogel sheet. At this time, the dust removal device can suck away some of the dust attached to the aerogel sheet.

[0029] After being rotated 180°, the platform 1 moves again to the underside of the aerogel sheet, the sheet clamp 7 releases the aerogel sheet, the sheet suction cup 2 picks up the aerogel sheet again, and the grinding device grinds the top surface of the aerogel sheet.

[0030] IV. The testing device is equipped with two sets of non-contact laser thickness gauges at both the front and rear of the platform's movement range, with a measurement frequency of 1000Hz, to obtain thickness data of the aerogel sheet before and after grinding. At the grinding device, the testing device uses a thickness sensor with a detection range of 0.5–10 mm and an accuracy ≤0.01 mm to measure the thickness of the aerogel sheet being ground or after grinding in real time, and to sort out unqualified aerogel sheets. Unqualified products are automatically discharged and an audible and visual alarm is triggered. After the testing device determines that the grinding is qualified, the platform 1 moves to the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt can be a variable frequency speed-regulating belt conveyor mechanism, and the conveying speed can be steplessly adjusted within the range of 0.1–1.5 m / s. Photoelectric sensor arrays can also be installed on both sides of the conveyor belt to detect the position and size of the aerogel sheet.

[0031] The aerogel sheets are transported to the stacking unit via conveyor belt. The stacking unit uses a servo motor-driven lifting platform with a positioning accuracy of ±0.1mm. The stacking unit is equipped with a vision positioning system and an anti-offset positioning mechanism to obtain the number of disc layers and ensure that the sheets are stacked neatly, so as to stack the aerogel sheets according to the set number of layers.

[0032] V. Finally, the stacked aerogel sheets are sealed using a packaging device. The packaging device is a fully automatic wrapping machine that wraps a film around the stacked aerogel sheets and uses hot air shrinking to seal the packaged product on all four sides. The film tension is adjustable to accommodate different layer thicknesses.

[0033] The present invention also provides a processing example of a sheet material of a specific size, as detailed below: A batch of aerogel sheets measuring 600mm×400mm×10mm are neatly stacked on the loading platform. A robotic arm automatically picks up each sheet and places it into the feeding port, where a guiding mechanism ensures accurate entry into the conveyor track. The conveyor belt runs at a speed of 0.8m / s, and photoelectric sensor arrays on both sides monitor the sheet position and size in real time, feeding the data back to the control system to match subsequent process parameters.

[0034] The sheet enters the grinding area, and the grinding rollers automatically adjust their spacing according to the sheet thickness. The servo pressure control system maintains a coarse grinding pressure of 300N, and the grinding roller surface uses 80-mesh diamond abrasive. After coarse grinding, the grinding rollers are adjusted to 120 mesh, and the abrasive pressure is adjusted to 150N. In this step, compared with the existing grinding efficiency of 20-25 sheets / min, grinding accuracy that is prone to exceeding the ±0.3mm tolerance, and grinding breakage rate of 3%-5%, the present invention can achieve an efficiency of ≥32 sheets / min, a grinding accuracy of ±0.1mm, and a breakage rate of ≤0.1%. It represents a significant improvement over the existing technology in many aspects, and it eliminates the need for manual adjustment of the sheet position, achieving fully automated processing.

[0035] During the polishing process, the three-stage dust removal system is activated simultaneously, with a system airflow of 2000m³ / h. 3 The dust is discharged after being treated by a cyclone separator, bag filter and HEPA high-efficiency filter. The dust collection efficiency can reach more than 95%, the overall noise of the equipment is less than 55dB, the risk of dust pollution is greatly reduced, and the operating noise is reduced by more than 15%.

[0036] After polishing, the sheets enter the inspection station, where two sets of non-contact laser thickness gauges scan and measure their thickness at a frequency of 1000Hz. The data is uploaded to the quality management system in real time. When the thickness deviation of a sheet exceeds ±0.05mm, the system determines it to be a defective product, and a sorting robotic arm outside the equipment removes it from the conveyor line and places it in a waste collection bin.

[0037] Qualified sheets are transported to the stacking station. The vision positioning system captures the outline of the sheet, and the servo lifting platform precisely positions it to stack the sheet layer by layer. The stack stops after reaching a preset 20 layers.

[0038] The stacked sheets enter the packaging station, where a fully automatic wrapping machine uses PE film for wrapping, with the film tension automatically adjusted to 25N. They then enter a hot air shrink tunnel, where they shrink and set at 90℃ to form neat packages, which are finally output to the unloading table via conveyor belt.

[0039] In summary, this invention utilizes the flexible support of the sheet suction cup 2 in conjunction with the rigid support of the bracket 3, and clamps the aerogel sheet at a position offset from the symmetry line between the stand 1 and the sheet, avoiding stress concentration through a flipping method. This allows for double-sided grinding of fragile aerogel sheets with a thickness accuracy controlled within ±0.1mm, a level of precision unattainable by conventional double-sided grinding. Furthermore, the invention adapts its speed based on the sheet size, overcoming the "precision-efficiency" contradiction in grinding brittle materials. It also automatically fine-tunes the pressure of the grinding rollers, preventing uneven thickness caused by abrasive wear. Compared to existing technologies that often require manual periodic adjustment of the grinding rollers, this method achieves a significant technological advancement in grinding brittle materials, offering high precision, high efficiency, and eliminating the need for manual compensation.

[0040] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automated processing method for aerogel sheets, characterized in that: Includes the following steps: Ⅰ. The platform (1) moves to the conveying device under the drive of the conveyor chain, and the sheet suction cup (2) picks up the aerogel sheet, and then moves to the grinding device under the drive of the conveyor chain; II. The grinding device grinds the top of the aerogel sheet with a grinding thickness accuracy of ±0.1mm and can automatically adjust the grinding speed according to the sheet size: ≥10 sheets / min when the single side size is ≥500mm and ≥32 sheets / min when the single side size is <500mm; while grinding, the dust removal device absorbs dust from below the frame (1); Ⅲ. After the top surface is polished, the sheet suction cup (2) no longer picks up the aerogel sheet. The sheet clamp (7) clamps the aerogel sheet from a position offset from the platform (1) and the symmetry line of the aerogel sheet through the air tube (5). The platform (1) moves to the conveying device. The sheet clamp (7) is rotated 180° by the motor (8). The platform (1) moves again to the bottom of the aerogel sheet and picks up the aerogel sheet. The polishing device polishes the top surface of the aerogel sheet. IV. After the testing device determines that the grinding is qualified, the stand (1) is moved to the conveyor belt and transported to the stacking device to stack the aerogel sheets according to the set number of layers. V. Finally, the stacked aerogel sheets are sealed using a packaging device.

2. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The active grinding roller in the grinding device has a diameter of 200mm and is covered with 80-120 mesh diamond abrasive. The pressure of the active grinding roller is adjusted by a servo motor, with an adjustment range of 0-500N.

3. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The stand (1) is located around the sheet suction cup (2) and has several brackets (3). The top surface of the bracket (3) is lower than the top surface of the sheet suction cup (2). During grinding, the active grinding roller presses the aerogel sheet against the bracket (3) to support the aerogel sheet.

4. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dust removal system is a three-stage system: a cyclone separator for large dust particles, a bag filter for medium-sized dust particles, and a HEPA filter for micron-sized dust particles. The final outlet dust concentration is ≤10mg / m³. 3 .

5. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 4, characterized in that: The system air volume of the dust removal device is 2000m³. 3 / h to keep the noise level below 60dB.

6. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detection device uses a thickness sensor with a detection range of 0.5 to 10 mm and an accuracy of ≤0.01 mm. The detection device measures the thickness of the aerogel sheet being polished by the polishing device or the thickness of the aerogel sheet after polishing in real time, and sorts out unqualified aerogel sheets. Unqualified products are automatically discharged and trigger an audible and visual alarm.

7. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 6, characterized in that: The testing device has two sets of non-contact laser thickness gauges at the front and back of the table (1) with a measurement frequency of 1000Hz to obtain the thickness data of the aerogel sheet before and after grinding.

8. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The stacking device uses a servo motor-driven lifting platform with a positioning accuracy of ±0.1mm.

9. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 8, characterized in that: The stacking device is equipped with a visual positioning system and an anti-displacement positioning mechanism to obtain the number of disc layers and ensure that the discs are stacked neatly.

10. The automatic processing method for aerogel sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The packaging device uses a fully automatic wrapping machine, which seals the stacked aerogel sheets by wrapping them with a film and then using hot air shrinking.

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