Multi-stage sealing and interlocking access device and access method for precision optical elements
By using multi-stage sealing and interlocking storage devices and dry nitrogen-oxygen mixed gas, the environmental isolation problem during the storage and retrieval of optical components in automated warehousing equipment is solved, achieving efficient and reliable storage environment control and reducing energy consumption.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- LASER FUSION RES CENT CHINA ACAD OF ENG PHYSICS
- Filing Date
- 2026-03-30
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-03
AI Technical Summary
Existing automated warehousing equipment cannot effectively isolate the internal and external environments when storing and retrieving precision optical components, resulting in leakage of clean and dry gases and intrusion of external pollutants. Furthermore, there is the problem of environmental isolation failure due to door misoperation.
A multi-stage sealing and interlocking storage and retrieval device is adopted, which ensures the stability of the environment during storage and retrieval through primary, secondary and tertiary physical isolation, combined with the use of dry nitrogen-oxygen mixed gas.
It achieves strict environmental stability during access, eliminates misoperation, reduces energy consumption, and provides absolute isolation and security, ensuring the high-value storage of optical components.
Smart Images
Figure CN121948008B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of automated storage technology for precision equipment. More specifically, this invention relates to a multi-stage sealing and interlocking storage and retrieval device and method for precision optical components. Background Technology
[0002] High-value precision optical components (such as lenses, crystals, and laser lenses) are extremely sensitive to the humidity, temperature, and cleanliness of the storage environment. Even trace amounts of dust contamination, humidity fluctuations, or sudden temperature changes can lead to surface contamination, performance degradation, or failure. Therefore, these components typically need to be stored in dedicated storage cabinets with constant temperature and humidity (e.g., 23℃±1℃, humidity ≤20%RH) and a high cleanliness level (e.g., ISO 7).
[0003] In existing technologies, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS / RS) are widely used for automated storage and retrieval. However, when components are entering or leaving the warehouse, the storage compartments must be connected to the external environment, forming a "dynamic opening." Currently, common solutions involve single-door or simple double-door structures, but both structures have the following drawbacks:
[0004] Single-door structure: When accessing, the door is opened directly, resulting in a large leakage of clean and dry gas inside, and the rapid intrusion of external pollutants and moisture, which seriously damages the stability of the internal environment, and requires a long time and high energy consumption to recover.
[0005] Simple double-door structures, while creating physical separation, generally lack effective collaborative control logic and reliable interlocking mechanisms. This poses a risk of the inner and outer doors opening simultaneously due to misoperation or system malfunction, resulting in limited sealing effectiveness. Furthermore, their door seals often employ passive sealing strips, which are prone to aging and failure after prolonged use, leading to insufficient sealing pressure and difficulty in maintaining high-standard environments.
[0006] As can be seen from the above description, the main drawback of the existing technology is that, for the storage and retrieval of precision optical components in automated warehousing equipment, the existing technology cannot achieve efficient automated storage and retrieval while maximally isolating the internal and external environments, ensuring the extraordinary stability of the internal environment of the storage compartment, and avoiding the destruction of the clean and dry internal environment due to the opening of the compartment.
[0007] Therefore, there is an urgent need in this field for a highly reliable solution that can overcome problems such as the intrusion of external pollutants, leakage of internal environmental gases, and failure of environmental isolation due to door misoperation, so as to completely solve the pollution and leakage problems of "dynamic openings". Summary of the Invention
[0008] One object of the present invention is to solve at least the above-mentioned problems and / or defects, and to provide at least the advantages described below.
[0009] To achieve these objectives and other advantages of the present invention, a multi-stage sealing and interlocking access device for precision optical components is provided, comprising:
[0010] The storage cabinet is equipped with a truss mechanical gripper that can reach into the inlet / outlet assembly to retrieve goods.
[0011] Located on the front of the storage cabinet and serving as an inlet / outlet assembly for docking with an external transfer AGV, the inlet / outlet assembly is equipped with an outer door and an inner door to form a first-level physical isolation. The outer door and the inner door are switched between open and closed states by corresponding cylinder group I and cylinder group II.
[0012] The inner door is designed above the inlet / outlet assembly, and the door frame of the inner door is embedded with a sealing mechanism that constitutes a secondary isolation.
[0013] The inlet / outlet assembly is also equipped with a valve that allows dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture gas to be filled between the outer and inner doors to form a three-stage seal. The dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture gas is a mixture of liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen in a 4:1 ratio and then vaporized.
[0014] The outer door and the inner door are respectively equipped with door limit sensor I and door limit sensor II, and an environmental sensor is installed between the outer door and the inner door.
[0015] The air valve is communicatively connected to the corresponding control module, and the control module is also communicatively connected to each cylinder group, the power mechanism of the robot arm, each door limit sensor, and the environmental sensor.
[0016] Preferably, the sealing mechanism is configured to use an inflatable sealing ring;
[0017] The sealing ring has a flat plate structure at one end that mates with the mounting position, and an arch bridge structure at the other end that mates with each side door, so as to define a gas passage inside the sealing ring.
[0018] The arch bridge structure has concave notches on its opposite outer walls.
[0019] The lower sidewalls of the flat plate structure and the arch bridge structure are fixedly connected to the mounting position.
[0020] Preferably, the conveyor I on the inlet / outlet assembly and the conveyor II on the AGV are designed with matching through-beam sensors;
[0021] The conveyor I is also equipped with a positioning sensor;
[0022] The positioning sensor and the through-beam sensor are both communicatively connected to the control module.
[0023] Preferably, the outer door and the inner door are each equipped with a corresponding electromagnetic lock.
[0024] A multi-level sealing and interlocking access method includes:
[0025] Multi-level sealing and interlocking are achieved through primary, secondary, and tertiary physical isolation, and the access to optical components is completed while adhering to the requirements of multi-level sealing and isolation.
[0026] The first-level physical isolation is achieved through electrical interlocking in the hardware, ensuring that the inner door and the outer door cannot be opened simultaneously at both the physical and signal levels.
[0027] The control module uses the status verification logic in the integrated control software to ensure that one door is completely closed and sends a feedback signal before allowing the other door to be opened, thus completing the construction of the first level of physical isolation.
[0028] The secondary physical isolation is achieved by filling the sealing ring with air while the inner door is closed, thus sealing the door body and frame of the inner door and isolating the inlet / outlet assembly from the inside of the storage cabinet, thereby completing the construction of the secondary physical isolation.
[0029] The three-level physical isolation is achieved by opening the gas valve through integrated control software before the outer or inner door is opened, and filling the space between the outer and inner doors with a dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture to create a temporary atmosphere buffer. The humidity, temperature, and cleanliness at the inlet and outlet are controlled through the atmosphere buffer, thus completing the construction of the three-level physical isolation.
[0030] After the outer door is closed, the air valve is shut off via integrated control software.
[0031] Preferably, the working pressure of the sealing ring is dynamically adjusted based on the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the inlet / outlet assembly and the storage cabinet to ensure that the sealing specific pressure P always satisfies the following formula:
[0032] P ≥ k ×ΔP
[0033] Where k is the safety factor and ΔP is the internal and external pressure difference, which is obtained by a differential pressure sensor installed at the corresponding position of the inlet / outlet assembly and / or storage cabinet.
[0034] Preferably, the warehousing process for the optical components includes:
[0035] S1. After receiving the warehousing task instruction, the AGV locates itself by reading the ground QR code and then docks with conveyor I through the through-beam sensor.
[0036] S2. After receiving the successful docking feedback, the integrated control software issues control command I to open the gas valve and output nitrogen-oxygen mixed gas to build an atmosphere buffer.
[0037] S3: The integrated control software directly opens the outer door, and through the synchronous start of conveyor I and conveyor II, the material box carrying optical components is passed into the outlet.
[0038] S4. After receiving the feedback signal from the positioning sensor, the integrated control software sends control command II to close the outer door.
[0039] S5. The integrated control software receives signals from the environmental sensor and the door limit sensor I. When the environmental parameters meet the predetermined requirements and the outer door is completely closed and locked, it sends control command III and control command IV to complete the valve closing and sealing ring depressurization operations, respectively.
[0040] S6. After the sealing ring is depressurized, the integrated control software opens the inner door by sending control command V;
[0041] S7. After the inner door is opened, the integrated control software sends control command VI to control the truss mechanical gripper to complete the picking operation.
[0042] S8. After the retrieval operation is completed, the integrated control software closes the inner door by sending control command VII.
[0043] S9. After the inner door is closed, the integrated control software sends control command VIII to inflate the sealing ring to perform a sealing operation.
[0044] The present invention has at least the following beneficial effects:
[0045] Firstly, the present invention can strictly stabilize the environment during dynamic access. The method of the present invention can effectively resist the external high humidity environment, buffer temperature changes, and isolate dust particles from intrusion, so that the environment inside the storage cabinet is almost undisturbed during access operations.
[0046] Secondly, this invention eliminates the possibility of erroneous operations. Specifically, through rigid sequential logic in the software program, it requires that subsequent actions be executed only upon confirmation of the preceding action's sensor signal. This design, in principle, completely eliminates the possibility of the inner and outer doors opening simultaneously due to any system failure or logical error, providing absolutely reliable isolation and security for the storage environment of high-value optical components.
[0047] Thirdly, this invention achieves adaptive sealing balance. Specifically, it achieves adaptive sealing by dynamically linking the inflation and deflation pressure of the sealing ring with the real-time pressure difference between the inlet and outlet. This not only ensures reliable sealing force under any operating condition, but also makes internal and external pressure balance a sensor confirmation signal before the inner door is opened, while avoiding stress fatigue caused by constant overpressure.
[0048] Fourth, this invention saves energy while improving the level of intelligence. The entire storage and retrieval process is driven by sensor status and executed automatically in sequence, achieving unmanned "lights-out" operation. Because the atmosphere barrier and dynamic seal greatly reduce the leakage of clean, dry gas, the energy consumption for air conditioning and nitrogen-oxygen mixtures required to maintain the storage cabinet can be reduced by more than 30%.
[0049] Other advantages, objectives and features of the present invention will become apparent in part from the following description, and in part from those skilled in the art through study and practice of the invention. Attached Figure Description
[0050] Figure 1 This is a partial schematic diagram of the overall structure of the device in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
[0051] Figure 2 This is a partial cross-sectional view of the inlet / outlet assembly in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
[0052] Figure 3 This is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the arch bridge structure in the working state of the sealing ring in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
[0053] Figure 4 This is an overall schematic diagram of the sealing ring in the working state (inflated sealing state) in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
[0054] Figure 5 This is an overall schematic diagram of the sealing ring in the non-working state (pressure relief and non-sealing state) in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
[0055] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of the warehousing operation for optical components in Embodiment 2 of the present invention;
[0056] Figure 7 This is a flowchart of the process of taking optical components out of the warehouse in Embodiment 3 of the present invention;
[0057] Among them, storage cabinet-1, truss mechanical gripper-2, inlet / outlet assembly-3, cylinder-301, outer door-302, inner cylinder-303, inner door-304, sealing ring-305, flat plate structure-3051, arch bridge structure-3052, gas passage-3053, notch-3054, inflation pipeline-3055, and air valve-306. Detailed Implementation
[0058] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that those skilled in the art can implement it based on the description.
[0059] From a device perspective, this invention designs a multi-level sealing and interlocking storage and retrieval device. This device mainly includes a storage cabinet, a truss mechanical gripper, and an innovative inlet / outlet assembly. This assembly has an outer door and an inner door, forming physical isolation (it should be noted that the outer and inner doors of this invention open and close as sliding doors, and are closed by cylinder compression and electromagnetic locking to form physical isolation). The inlet / outlet is filled with a dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture for environmental control. Specifically, the core technologies of this invention's device include:
[0060] Interlocking mechanism: In terms of hardware, electrical interlocks ensure that the inner and outer doors cannot be opened simultaneously, both physically and in terms of signals; in terms of software, status verification logic is added to the control system, which only allows the next door to be opened after the previous door is completely closed and sends a feedback signal.
[0061] Active sealing module: An inflatable sealing ring is embedded in the inner door frame. After the door is closed, inflation creates a high-pressure seal; before opening, compression is released, achieving dynamic and efficient sealing. The sealing pressure can be dynamically adjusted based on the pressure difference between the inlet / outlet assembly and the storage cabinet, ensuring the sealing pressure always meets P ≥ k * ΔP, where k is a safety factor and ΔP is the internal / external pressure difference (in practical applications, this difference is measured using a pressure sensor (e.g., an electronic micromanometer installed at the corresponding location on the inlet / outlet assembly and / or the storage cabinet)). This ensures that after sufficient nitrogen-oxygen mixture is filled into the inlet / outlet assembly, the pressure difference with the storage cabinet decreases, reducing the sealing ring pressure and initiating the inner door opening procedure.
[0062] Sensor module: Integrates multiple sensors such as gate limit, through-beam, and positioning sensors to provide accurate status feedback for control logic.
[0063] The control module implements atmosphere control: before the outer door is opened, the gas valve is opened to introduce a dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture; before the outer door is closed and the inner door is opened, the gas valve is closed. The purpose of introducing the dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture is to control the humidity, temperature, and cleanliness at the inlet and outlet. The mixture, which is directly derived from the vaporization of liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen, contains almost no moisture, which reduces humidity and prevents the humidity inside the storage cabinet from rising after the inner door is opened, thus ensuring that the surface of the optical components stored inside the storage cabinet does not deliquinate. The gas-filled environment allows the temperature at the inlet and outlet to transition slowly from the external temperature to the internal temperature, which avoids sudden temperature changes. Optical components are extremely sensitive to sudden temperature changes, thus ensuring the quality of the optical components. The positive pressure created by the gas filling can prevent dust particles from entering after the outer door is opened, thereby ensuring the cleanliness of the inlet and outlet assembly and the inside of the storage cabinet.
[0064] From a methodological perspective, this invention defines a rigorous state-triggered timing control method that rigidly interlocks the opening and closing of inner and outer doors, the inflation and deflation of sealing rings, the start and stop of the inflation control system, the start and stop of the conveyor, and the actions of the robotic arm through sensor signals (door limit, through-beam, positioning, etc.). The combination of "atmosphere control + sensor interlocking + active sealing" ensures, through precise control of the timing and conditions of each subsystem's actions, that the stringent and stable environment required by the optical components is maintained to the maximum extent possible during the physical opening process where optical components must be transferred.
[0065] Taking warehousing as an example, the process is as follows: AGV docking → opening the nitrogen-oxygen mixture valve → opening the outer door → transferring components → closing the outer door → environmental sensor confirmation + interlock confirmation → closing the nitrogen-oxygen mixture valve → depressurizing the sealing ring → opening the inner door → gantry mechanical gripper picking up goods → closing the inner door → inflating and sealing the sealing ring.
[0066] Before the inner and outer doors open and close, a temporary, controlled "atmosphere buffer zone" is proactively created at the inlet and outlet by injecting a dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture (this dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture is obtained by vaporizing a 4:1 mixture of liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen; the gas obtained after cryogenic vaporization is free of oil, dust, and particulate matter, achieving a cleanliness level of 1, with extremely low humidity below 2 ppm; the 4:1 nitrogen-oxygen mixture ratio simulates the proportion of air to prevent the risk of asphyxiation). It should be noted that, at the methodological level, the predetermined purpose is achieved mainly through the precise coupling of timing and function.
[0067] Timing: Nitrogen-oxygen mixture is introduced before the outer door is opened (pre-purging) and after it is closed, and before the inner door is opened (restabilization), rather than continuously or randomly. The inflation seal of the inner door isolates the inlet / outlet assembly from the inside of the storage cabinet, so that even if the atmosphere inside the inlet / outlet assembly is lost after the inner door is closed, it will not affect the environment inside the storage cabinet.
[0068] Function: Achieving triple environmental control simultaneously with a dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture:
[0069] 1) Dehumidification: Using extremely dry gas to directly dilute and replace any potentially intrusive moist air;
[0070] 2) Buffer temperature: Creates a temperature gradient to mitigate the damage to optical components caused by sudden temperature changes between the external environment and the internal constant temperature environment;
[0071] 3) Dust prevention: Maintain a slight positive pressure to physically block the possibility of dust particles intruding.
[0072] Example 1
[0073] like Figure 1 As shown, the device of the present invention mainly includes:
[0074] The storage cabinet 1 has a truss mechanical gripper 2 inside that can reach into the loading / unloading port assembly to retrieve goods.
[0075] The inlet / outlet assembly 3, located on the front of the storage cabinet 1, is used to dock with the external transfer AGV 4.
[0076] like Figure 2 As shown, the inlet / outlet assembly 3 includes an outer door 302 driven by an outer cylinder 301 and an inner door 304 driven by an inner cylinder 303. An annular and inflatable sealing ring 305 is embedded on the door frame of the inner door 304, and the sealing ring 305 is made of rubber.
[0077] Furthermore, the inlet / outlet assembly is filled with dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture through the gas valve 306. Because the dry gas is light, it will float upwards, while the moisture and particulate matter are heavier and will move downwards. Therefore, the inner door 304 is designed above the inlet / outlet assembly 3.
[0078] Furthermore, such as Figures 3-5 As shown, one end of the sealing ring 305 that mates with the mounting position is configured as a flat plate structure 3051, and the other end of the sealing ring 305 that mates with each side door is configured with an arch bridge structure 3052, so as to define a gas passage 3053 inside the sealing ring. An inflation port is provided on the gas passage 3053, and the inflation port is connected to an external gas supply device through an inflation pipe 3055.
[0079] The arch bridge structure 3052 has concave notches 3054 on its opposite outer side walls.
[0080] The lower sidewalls of the flat plate structure 3051 and the arch bridge structure 3052 are fixedly connected to the mounting position.
[0081] Example 2
[0082] This implementation mainly elaborates on the warehousing method of optical components, such as... Figure 6 As shown, the data entry method includes the following steps:
[0083] S1. The system receives the data entry task instruction.
[0084] S2. The transfer AGV4 moves to the loading port and performs a second precise positioning by reading the ground QR code. (It should be noted that the first precise positioning in this solution is the AGV's autonomous navigation positioning (completed by the AGV's onboard control system), which aims to move to the vicinity of the storage cabinet. The second positioning here is the precise positioning of the storage cabinet's loading and unloading port (completed by the onboard through-beam sensors, etc.) to ensure that the goods can be accurately picked up.)
[0085] S3 and AGV4 interact with the through-beam sensors on the outgoing conveyor to confirm successful docking. If the docking fails, the AGV will automatically adjust or issue an alarm.
[0086] S4. After the control system confirms successful docking, it issues a command to open the nitrogen-oxygen mixture valve 306.
[0087] S5. Open the outer door 302.
[0088] The conveyors on S6 and AGV4 start synchronously with the outlet conveyor, transferring the cassettes carrying optical components into the outlet.
[0089] S7. The position sensor on the conveyor has detected that the material box has arrived in place.
[0090] S8. The control system immediately issues a command to close the outer door 302.
[0091] S9. The environmental sensor confirms that the environment meets the requirements, and the door limit sensor of the outer door confirms that the outer door 302 is fully closed and locked.
[0092] S10. The sealing pressure of the inner door seal ring decreases due to the reduced pressure difference between the inside and outside. This continues until the control system receives the confirmation signal from S9 and issues a command to close the nitrogen-oxygen mixture valve 306 and completely depressurize the inner door seal ring 305.
[0093] S11. After the pressure relief is completed, the control system issues a command to open the inner door 304.
[0094] S12, the mechanical gripper 2 of the cabinet truss moves to the inner door position, extends, takes away the material box and then retracts.
[0095] S13. After the forks of the truss mechanical gripper 2 retract to their original positions, the control system immediately issues a command to close the inner door 304.
[0096] S14. After the door limit sensor of the inner door confirms that the inner door 304 is completely closed, the control system sends a command to the pneumatic control unit to inflate the sealing ring 305 to achieve sealing.
[0097] S15. The material boxes are transported from inside the storage cabinet to the designated storage location for storage.
[0098] S16. The process ends, and the system updates the inventory status.
[0099] This example demonstrates that the entire storage process of this invention is driven by sensor status and executed automatically in sequence, achieving unmanned "lights-out" operation. Because the atmosphere barrier and dynamic sealing significantly reduce the leakage of clean, dry gas, the energy consumption for air conditioning and nitrogen-oxygen mixtures required to maintain the storage cabinet can be significantly reduced. In practical applications, the environment where this equipment is located is an ISO 7 cleanroom. The primary purpose of filling the room with dry nitrogen-oxygen mixtures is to control temperature and humidity; controlling cleanliness is secondary, but the principle is consistent with the direction of cleanliness control. Therefore, to illustrate how this invention can significantly reduce energy consumption, cleanliness control will be used as an example:
[0100] I. Calculation of Maintenance Gas Supply
[0101] According to the relevant provisions of the national standard GB50073-2001 "Code for Design of Cleanroom", the formula for the air supply Q required to maintain positive pressure is:
[0102] Q = a×Σ(q×L)
[0103] In the above formula, a is the safety factor, q is the leakage rate, and L is the length;
[0104] Under a positive pressure of 10 Pa, the leakage rate of the door seam, q_door, can be obtained from the table as 6 m³ / (h·m); the leakage rate of the wall panel joint, q_wall, is 0.6 m³ / (h·m).
[0105] The total length of the door gaps in this equipment is approximately 10m, and the total length of the wall panel joints is approximately 20m. Taking a safety factor of 1.2, substituting these values, we get:
[0106] Q_steady = 1.2×(6×10 + 0.6×20) = 86.4 m³ / h
[0107] Therefore, the daily maintenance gas supply is: 86.4 × 24 = 2074 m³ / day
[0108] II. Calculation of Air Supply Volume Upon Door Opening
[0109] 1. Traditional single-door structure
[0110] In a traditional single-door design, positive-pressure gas inside the cabinet overflows outwards the moment the door is opened, while outside air simultaneously enters. According to fluid mechanics, the gas exchange rate is related to the opening time, opening area, and pressure difference. When the door is fully open and under a pressure difference of 10 Pa, the gas exchange rate is much greater than that due to leakage through the door gaps. Under the condition of 30 seconds of opening, the gas replacement rate is approximately 25%–35% of the cabinet volume. We take 30% as an average value.
[0111] If the storage cabinet has a volume of 35 m³, then the leakage rate V_traditional during a single door opening is:
[0112] V_traditional = 35×30% =10.5m³
[0113] Assuming 100 accesses per day, the air supply for a traditional single-door structure would be 10.5 × 100 = 1050 m³ / day.
[0114] 2. The double-layer door structure of the present invention
[0115] This invention employs a double-door interlocking system and active air-sealing technology. Based on the equipment structure, the airlock volume between the inner and outer doors is approximately 0.5 m³. During storage and retrieval, when the inner door is opened, only the gas within the airlock enters the cabinet, and the active sealing significantly reduces leakage through door gaps; the leakage per opening is generally 1 to 2 times the airlock volume. Taking into full account engineering margins, this calculation uses 0.8 m³ / time (approximately 1.6 times the airlock volume), and calculates based on 100 storage and retrieval operations per day. Therefore, the daily air replenishment volume Q_door_new for this invention is:
[0116] Q_door_new = 100 × 0.8 = 80 m³ / day
[0117] III. Comparison of Total Air Supply
[0118]
[0119] Therefore, the total gas supply reduction rate η:
[0120] η = (3124 - 2154) / 3124 × 100% ≈ 31.1%
[0121] As can be seen from the above description, compared with the existing single-door technology, the present invention reduces the energy consumption of air conditioning and nitrogen-oxygen mixture required to maintain the storage cabinet by more than 30%.
[0122] Example 3
[0123] like Figure 7As shown, the outbound and inbound processes are reverse operations. The only difference between the two is that the outbound process does not have an environmental sensor confirmation process, but it still needs to introduce a nitrogen-oxygen mixture to suppress temperature changes and the intrusion of external particulate matter. Therefore, its process will not be described in detail here.
[0124] The above solution is merely an illustration of a preferred example and is not limited thereto. When implementing this invention, appropriate substitutions and / or modifications can be made according to the user's needs.
[0125] Although embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed above, they are not limited to the applications listed in the specification and embodiments. It can be applied to various fields suitable for the present invention. Other modifications can be readily made by those skilled in the art. Therefore, without departing from the general concept defined by the claims and their equivalents, the present invention is not limited to the specific details and examples shown and described herein.
Claims
1. A multi-stage sealing and interlocking access device for precision optical components, characterized in that, include: The storage cabinet is equipped with a truss mechanical gripper that can reach into the loading / unloading assembly to retrieve goods. Located on the front of the storage cabinet and serving as an inlet / outlet assembly for docking with an external transfer AGV, the inlet / outlet assembly is equipped with an outer door and an inner door to form a first-level physical isolation. The outer door and the inner door are switched between open and closed states by corresponding cylinder group I and cylinder group II. The inner door is designed above the inlet / outlet assembly, and the door frame of the inner door is embedded with a sealing mechanism that constitutes a secondary isolation. The sealing mechanism is configured to use an inflatable sealing ring. The inlet / outlet assembly is also equipped with a valve that allows dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture gas to be filled between the outer and inner doors to form a three-stage seal. The dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture gas is a mixture of liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen in a 4:1 ratio and then vaporized. The outer door and the inner door are respectively equipped with door limit sensor I and door limit sensor II, and an environmental sensor is installed between the outer door and the inner door. The air valve is communicatively connected to the corresponding control module, and the control module is also communicatively connected to each cylinder group, the power mechanism of the gantry mechanical gripper, each door limit sensor, and the environmental sensor. A multi-level sealing and interlocking access method is applied to a multi-level sealing and interlocking access device for precision optical components. It achieves multi-level sealing and interlocking through first-level physical isolation, second-level physical isolation, and third-level physical isolation, and completes the access of optical components while adhering to the requirements of multi-level sealing and isolation. The first-level physical isolation is achieved through electrical interlocking in the hardware, ensuring that the inner door and the outer door cannot be opened simultaneously at both the physical and signal levels. The control module uses the status verification logic in the integrated control software to ensure that one door is completely closed and sends a feedback signal before allowing the other door to be opened, thus completing the construction of the first level of physical isolation. The secondary physical isolation is achieved by filling the sealing ring with air while the inner door is closed, creating a seal between the inner door and the frame, thus isolating the inlet / outlet assembly from the inside of the storage cabinet and completing the construction of the secondary physical isolation. The three-level physical isolation is achieved by opening the gas valve through integrated control software before the outer or inner door is opened, and filling the space between the outer and inner doors with a dry nitrogen-oxygen mixture to create a temporary atmosphere buffer. The humidity, temperature, and cleanliness at the inlet and outlet are controlled through the atmosphere buffer, thus completing the construction of the three-level physical isolation. After the outer door is closed, the air valve is shut off via integrated control software; The working pressure of the sealing ring is dynamically adjusted based on the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the inlet / outlet assembly and the storage cabinet to ensure that the sealing specific pressure P always satisfies the following formula: P ≥ k ×ΔP; Where k is the safety factor and ΔP is the internal and external pressure difference, which is obtained by a differential pressure sensor installed at the corresponding position of the inlet / outlet assembly and / or storage cabinet.
2. The multi-stage sealing and interlocking access device for precision optical components as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The end of the sealing ring that mates with the mounting position is configured as a flat plate structure, and the end of the sealing ring that mates with each side door is configured as an arch bridge structure to define a gas passage inside the sealing ring. The arch bridge structure has concave notches on its opposite outer walls. The lower sidewalls of the flat plate structure and the arch bridge structure are fixedly connected to the mounting position.
3. The multi-stage sealing and interlocking access device for precision optical components as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The conveyor I on the inlet / outlet assembly and the conveyor II on the AGV are designed with matching through-beam sensors; The conveyor I is also equipped with a positioning sensor; The positioning sensor and the through-beam sensor are both communicatively connected to the control module.
4. The multi-stage sealing and interlocking access device for precision optical components as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The outer and inner doors are each equipped with a corresponding electromagnetic lock.
5. The multi-stage sealing and interlocking access device for precision optical components as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The warehousing process for the optical components includes: S1. After receiving the warehousing task instruction, the AGV locates itself by reading the ground QR code and then docks with conveyor I through the through-beam sensor. S2. After receiving the successful docking feedback, the integrated control software issues control command I to open the gas valve and output dry nitrogen-oxygen mixed gas to build an atmosphere buffer. S3: The integrated control software directly opens the outer door, and through the synchronous start of conveyor I and conveyor II, the material box carrying optical components is passed into the outlet. S4. After receiving the feedback signal from the positioning sensor, the integrated control software sends control command II to close the outer door. S5. The integrated control software receives signals from the environmental sensor and the door limit sensor I. When the environmental parameters meet the predetermined requirements and the outer door is completely closed and locked, it sends control command III and control command IV to complete the valve closing and sealing ring depressurization operations, respectively. S6. After the sealing ring is depressurized, the integrated control software opens the inner door by sending control command V; S7. After the inner door is opened, the integrated control software sends control command VI to control the truss mechanical gripper to complete the picking operation. S8. After the retrieval operation is completed, the integrated control software closes the inner door by sending control command VII. S9. After the inner door is closed, the integrated control software sends control command VIII to inflate the sealing ring to perform a sealing operation.