Stacking method and device for tubular injection molding parts

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of material stacking, in particular to a tubular injection molding part stacking method and device, and the tubular injection molding part stacking method comprises the steps that the number of tubular injection molding parts stored in a discharging module, the vacancy condition of foam trays, the stacking number of the trays and the like are judged; the stacking manipulator is controlled to stack tubular injection molding parts and stack foam trays, and the visual identification module is used for tray vacancy identification, tray stacking alignment and the like. The invention further discloses a stacking device suitable for the stacking method. The stacking device comprises a discharging module, a stacking mechanical arm, a tray discharging module, a tray feeding module, an auxiliary suction cup set, a pipe fitting suction cup set, a visual recognition module and the like. The tubular injection molding part stacking device achieves the technical effects that efficient and accurate stacking of tubular injection molding parts is achieved, the stacking efficiency and quality are improved, manual intervention is reduced, and errors and potential safety hazards caused by manual operation are avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the technical field of material stacking, and in particular to a method and apparatus for stacking tubular injection molded parts. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of automated packaging equipment technology for injection molded parts, with the continuous development of industrial production, the requirements for packaging efficiency and quality of injection molded parts are increasing. After the injection-molded tubular parts are produced, they need to be neatly stacked in specific foam pallets for packaging. This step is crucial for the storage, transportation, and sales of the products. An efficient and stable packaging system can improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, and simultaneously ensure product quality and appearance. In the current manufacturing environment, improving automation levels and achieving fully unmanned operation of the entire process has become an important trend in industry development.

[0003] Traditionally, two main methods have been used to address the packaging of injection-molded tubular parts. One method relies entirely on manual operation, where workers manually place the tubular injection molded parts neatly into foam trays. The other method uses partially automated equipment, which typically only performs simple gripping actions. In manual operation, workers rely on experience and visual judgment to place the tubular injection molded parts one by one into the empty spaces of the foam tray; while automated equipment uses mechanical structures to grip the tubular injection molded parts and then place them into the foam tray.

[0004] However, existing methods have significant drawbacks. Manual placement is slow, and prolonged repetitive work can easily lead to worker fatigue and inefficiency, while also incurring high labor costs. Furthermore, manual operation makes it difficult to guarantee accuracy in every placement, resulting in omissions, misalignment, or incorrect placement, affecting product appearance and subsequent packaging. Some automated equipment has limited functionality and cannot simultaneously address precise alignment, automatic pallet stacking (especially handling static electricity), and coordinated loading and unloading, hindering fully automated operation and limiting improvements in production efficiency and system stability. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This invention solves the problem that tubular injection molded parts cannot simultaneously achieve automated and precise alignment and pallet stacking. It proposes a method and device for stacking tubular injection molded parts, which achieves the effects of improving pallet loading quality, increasing operational stability and production efficiency, and reducing labor intensity.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the following technical solution is proposed: A method for stacking tubular injection molded parts includes the following steps: S1, determine whether the unloading module stores m tubular injection molded parts; if yes, proceed to S2; otherwise, return to S1. S2: Foam pallets are stacked on the pallet stacking area. There are n rows of empty spaces for the foam pallets. Each row of empty spaces has m pipe slots. Determine whether there are empty spaces for the foam pallets. If yes, proceed to S3. If no, proceed to S4. S3: Control the stacking robot to pick up m tubular injection molded parts at once and place them in the empty space of the row closest to the unloading module. Determine if there is an empty space in the foam tray. If yes, return to S1; otherwise, execute S4. S4, determine whether the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area has reached the set value. If not, proceed to S5. If yes, transfer the foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area to the pallet unloading area, and then proceed to S5. S5, determine whether there is a foam pallet to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area. If yes, proceed to S6; otherwise, transfer the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area, and then proceed to S6. S6, control the stacking robot to pick up the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet adsorption area and stack it directly above the foam pallet full of pipes in the pallet stacking area, update the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area, and return to S1.

[0007] By adopting the above technical solution, automatic stacking of tubular injection molded parts is achieved. The system can determine the number of tubular injection molded parts stored in the unloading module, the availability of foam pallets, the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area, and whether there are foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area. This allows for the orderly picking up and placing of tubular injection molded parts, and the stacking and transfer of pallets, improving production efficiency, achieving full-process automation, and reducing labor intensity. This application also enables automatic stacking of foam pallets, updates the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area, and promotes the cyclical execution of the tubular injection molded part stacking process. This helps to achieve full-process automation from unloading and pallet loading to pallet stacking, improving production efficiency and system stability, and reducing labor intensity.

[0008] Preferably, a visual recognition module is provided on the pallet stacking area, and the visual recognition module performs the following steps: Pallet empty space identification steps: The purpose is to identify whether there is an empty row on the pallet and locate the empty row closest to the unloading module. Subsequently, the control robot will generate corresponding operations based on the location and pick up m tubular injection molded parts at once to the empty row closest to the unloading module.

[0009] By adopting the above technical solution, the visual recognition module performs the pallet empty space recognition step, which can identify whether there is an empty row on the pallet and locate the empty row closest to the unloading module. Then, it controls the stacking robot to pick up m tubular injection molded parts at once and place them in the empty row closest to the unloading module, ensuring the accuracy of the placement of the tubular injection molded parts, solving the problem of easy misplacement when placed manually, and improving the pallet loading quality.

[0010] Pallet stacking and alignment steps: Obtain the location information of foam pallets filled with pipe fittings in the pallet stacking area; Based on the position information of the foam pallets, the control stacking robot picks up the foam pallets to be loaded from the pallet adsorption area and stacks them directly above the foam pallets filled with pipe fittings in the pallet stacking area.

[0011] By adopting the above technical solution, the position information of the foam pallet filled with pipe fittings can be accurately obtained, and based on this information, the stacking robot can be controlled to accurately stack the foam pallet to be loaded onto the foam pallet filled with pipe fittings, thereby achieving accurate stacking of foam pallets, avoiding misalignment during pallet stacking, improving the loading quality and the stability of system operation.

[0012] Preferably, step S5, which involves transferring the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area, further includes the following steps: S501, determine whether there are stacked foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area. If yes, proceed to S502. If no, issue a foam pallet feeding reminder. S502, determine whether the stacked foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height threshold. If so, issue a foam pallet over-height warning; if not, transfer the foam pallets to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area.

[0013] By adopting the above technical solution, the steps of transferring foam pallets to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area are refined. It can determine whether there are stacked foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area. If not, a feeding reminder is issued to ensure production continuity. It can also determine whether the foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height threshold. If they do, an over-height reminder is issued to avoid problems caused by excessive stacking. When the conditions are met, the foam pallets to be loaded are transferred to the pallet adsorption area, realizing intelligent management of pallet supply.

[0014] Preferably, the tray empty space identification step includes: S31, establish the transformation matrix between the camera pixel coordinate system of the visual recognition module and the coordinate system of the stacking robot base, and pre-store the theoretical physical coordinates of each pipe slot on the foam tray; S32, when it is determined that the unloading module stores m tubular injection molded parts, the vision recognition module is triggered to collect the image of the top layer of foam pallet in the pallet stacking area and perform grayscale binarization and morphological filtering processing. S33 detects the slot status of each row of pipe fittings through template matching or Blob analysis, identifies empty slots, and scans row by row starting from the side closest to the feeding module to find the first row with m consecutive empty slots and locks it as the target row. S34, extract the center pixel coordinates of m consecutive empty spaces in the target row, convert them into the placement coordinates of the stacking robot using the transformation matrix, and dynamically compensate the Z-axis coordinates according to the current stacking height of the foam trays. S35, the stacking robot inserts m tubular injection molded parts into the empty space of the row closest to the unloading module in one go, according to the placement coordinates.

[0015] By adopting the above technical solution, a transformation matrix is ​​established between the camera pixel coordinate system of the visual recognition module and the base coordinate system of the stacking robot. The theoretical physical coordinates of each tube slot on the foam tray are pre-stored. The foam tray image is acquired and processed, which can identify empty spaces and find the target row. The pixel coordinates of the center point of the empty space in the target row are converted into the placement coordinates of the stacking robot and the Z-axis coordinate is compensated. This allows the stacking robot to accurately insert m tubular injection molded parts into the empty space of the row closest to the unloading module at one time according to the placement coordinates. This achieves high-precision tray loading based on vision guidance and eliminates the misalignment problem caused by the cumulative error of mechanical positioning.

[0016] Preferably, the pallet stacking and alignment step includes: S61, when the foam pallet in the pallet stacking area is full of tubular injection molded parts and a new pallet needs to be stacked, the vision recognition module collects the image of the current top foam pallet, identifies the positioning features of the four corners of the pallet, and calculates the center point coordinates and rotation angle of the current pallet. S62, the stacking robot moves to the tray adsorption area and uses the end suction cup fixture to pick up the foam tray to be loaded. The suction cup fixture is equipped with a floating mechanism. S63, the stacking robot moves the pallet to be loaded to a predetermined height above the pallet stacking area. The vision recognition module collects the positioning features of the bottom of the pallet to be loaded again. Combined with the pose of the lower pallet obtained in step S61, the final placement coordinates are calculated so that the pallet to be loaded is aligned with the center of the lower pallet and the rotation angle is the same. S64, the stacking robot descends vertically at a predetermined speed. After the suction cup fixture contacts the surface of the lower foam tray, it uses the floating mechanism to compress and absorb the height tolerance, and then sequentially closes the suction cup air path, placing the tray to be loaded directly above the foam tray filled with pipes.

[0017] By adopting the above technical solution, the visual recognition module collects the image recognition and positioning features of the top layer foam tray and calculates the center point coordinates and rotation angle. Combined with the bottom positioning features of the tray to be loaded, the final placement coordinates are calculated, which can make the center of the tray to be loaded aligned with the center of the lower layer tray and the rotation angle consistent, thus achieving precise stacking. The suction cup fixture is equipped with a floating mechanism. After the stacking robot descends vertically and the suction cup fixture contacts the surface of the lower layer foam tray, it can compress and absorb the height tolerance, ensuring the stability and accuracy of the foam tray stacking, and improving the quality of foam tray stacking and the stability of system operation.

[0018] A tubular injection molded part stacking device, applicable to the tubular injection molded part stacking method according to any one of claims 1-5, comprising: The unloading module stores several tubular injection molded parts that are attached end to end in sequence; A stacking robot arm is equipped with a suction cup fixture at its end, which includes two sets of parallel auxiliary suction cups and a tube suction cup set. The pallet unloading module is located on one side of the unloading module and is used to place foam pallets to be loaded and to transfer and unload the loaded foam pallets. The pallet feeding module is located on one side of the pallet discharging module and is used for transferring and storing foam pallets to be loaded. Auxiliary suction cup assembly for adsorbing foam trays; Tube suction cup assembly, used to suction tubular injection molded parts onto foam trays and to suction foam trays to cover the finished foam trays; The visual recognition module is used to identify whether there is an empty row on the pallet and to locate the empty row closest to the unloading module; it is also used for pallet stacking alignment and to obtain the position information of foam pallets filled with pipe fittings on the pallet stacking area.

[0019] By adopting the above technical solutions, the unloading module can store tubular injection molded parts, providing materials for subsequent palletizing; the stacking robot is equipped with a suction cup fixture containing an auxiliary suction cup group and a tubular suction cup group, which can realize the adsorption operation of foam pallets and tubular injection molded parts; the pallet discharge module can place the foam pallets to be palletized and transfer the palletized foam pallets for discharge, and the pallet feeding module can transfer and store the foam pallets to be palletized. The two work together to realize the circulation of foam pallets; the auxiliary suction cup group can adsorb the foam pallets, and the tubular suction cup group can adsorb the tubular injection molded parts onto the foam pallets, and can also adsorb the foam pallets for stacking; the vision recognition module can identify and locate empty positions on the pallets, as well as perform pallet stacking alignment, ensuring the precise placement of tubular injection molded parts and the accurate stacking of foam pallets, thereby improving the palletizing quality, improving operational stability, improving production efficiency and reducing labor intensity.

[0020] Preferably, the pallet unloading module and the pallet feeding module have identical structures but opposite transport directions. The pallet feeding module conveys the foam pallets to be loaded towards the bottom of the stacking robot, and is divided into a pallet adsorption area near the end of the conveying direction and a pallet pre-storage area near the front of the conveying direction. The pallet discharging module conveys the loaded foam pallets outward from below the stacking robot, and is divided into a pallet discharging area near the end of the conveying direction and a pallet stacking area near the front of the conveying direction.

[0021] By adopting the above technical solution, setting the pallet unloading module and the pallet feeding module to have the same structure and opposite transportation directions can simplify the design and manufacturing of the device and reduce costs. Dividing the pallet feeding module and the pallet unloading module into different areas according to the conveying direction facilitates the orderly management and transfer of foam pallets, which helps to improve the efficiency of stacking tubular injection molded parts and the stability of system operation.

[0022] Preferably, the foam tray has n rows of empty spaces, each row of empty spaces has m tube slots, the tube suction cup group picks up m tubular injection molded parts at a time and places them into the nth row of empty spaces, the tube suction cup group has a number of tube suction cups and at least 2 tube suction cups at the same time adsorb each tubular injection molded part.

[0023] By adopting the above technical solution, the tubular suction cup group can pick up m tubular injection molded parts at one time and place them into the empty space of the foam tray, achieving efficient tray loading. Each tubular injection molded part is adsorbed by at least 2 tubular suction cups, ensuring the stability and reliability of the picking and helping to improve the tray loading quality.

[0024] Preferably, the feeding module includes: The unloading conveyor belt provides power for transporting tubular injection molded parts; The unloading track is located above the unloading conveyor belt, and only one tubular injection molded part can pass through the unloading track at a time. A baffle is installed at the end of the conveyor belt in the direction of transport and is perpendicularly connected to the unloading track to intercept tubular injection molded parts; An infrared counter is set above the discharge track on the side of the mth tubular injection molded part away from the baffle when the discharge track is full of m tubular injection molded parts. It is used to count the tubular injection molded parts that pass through its detection range.

[0025] By adopting the above technical solutions, the feeding conveyor belt provides power for the conveying of tubular injection molded parts, and the feeding track ensures that only one tubular injection molded part passes through at the same time, ensuring the orderly conveying; the baffle can intercept the tubular injection molded parts, causing them to accumulate in the track; the infrared counter can count the tubular injection molded parts passing through its detection range, achieving accurate counting of m tubular injection molded parts, and in conjunction with the tube suction cup group, it can grab m tubes at once and place them row by row, which helps to achieve an efficient and orderly tray loading cycle.

[0026] Preferably, one side of the pallet feeding module is provided with: The first external sensor is used to detect whether there are foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area. If not, it reminds the staff to place the stacked foam pallets waiting to be loaded. The second external sensor is used to detect whether the stacked foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height limit. If so, it reminds the staff to reduce the number of stacked foam pallets waiting to be loaded. The third external sensor is used to check whether there are foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area. If not, when there are foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area that do not exceed the height limit, the foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area are transferred to the pallet adsorption area.

[0027] By adopting the above technical solution, the first external sensor can detect whether there are foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area, and remind the staff to place them when there are no pallets, ensuring the supply of raw materials to the system; the second external sensor can detect whether the stacked foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height limit, and remind the staff to reduce the number of stacked pallets when the limit is exceeded, to prevent the stacking from affecting subsequent operations due to excessive height; the third external sensor can detect whether there are foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area, and when there are no pallets and there are pallets in the pallet pre-storage area that do not exceed the height limit, the pallets are transferred to the pallet adsorption area, realizing the reasonable allocation and supply of pallets, and ensuring the continuous and stable operation of the system.

[0028] The beneficial effects of this invention are: 1. Improved tray loading quality: The visual recognition module locates empty spaces on the tray and guides the stacking robot to place the pipes, solving the problem of misplacement that is easy to occur when placing them manually and ensuring that each pipe falls accurately into the slot; 2. Improve operational stability by implementing a series of steps and devices to ensure proper stacking of foam pallets, avoiding problems such as material jamming and machine shutdown caused by static electricity; 3. Improve production efficiency: The stacking robot can pick up m tubular injection molded parts at a time and place them row by row. Combined with fully automatic loading, unloading and stacking, continuous production is achieved, and the efficiency is much higher than that of manual or semi-automatic equipment. 4. Reduced labor intensity and achieved full automation from material supply to finished product output. Workers only need to replenish empty pallets and fittings periodically. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1 This is an overall flowchart of the method of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of the tray empty space identification step of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 3This is a flowchart of the tray stacking and alignment steps of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the device of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a side view of the pallet feeding module of the present invention.

[0034] The components include: 1. Unloading module; 1-1. Unloading conveyor belt; 1-2. Unloading track; 1-3. Baffle; 1-4. Infrared counter; 2. Tubular injection molded part; 3. Foam pallet; 4. Pallet feeding module; 5. Pallet unloading module; 6. Stacking robot; 7. Auxiliary suction cup group; 8. Tube suction cup group; 9. Vision recognition module; 10. First external sensor; 11. Second external sensor; 12. Third external sensor. Detailed Implementation

[0035] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The described embodiments are only possible technical implementations of the present invention, but are not limited thereto. Other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art in conjunction with the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are also within the protection scope of the present invention. Example

[0036] This embodiment proposes a tubular injection molded part stacking device, referencing... Figure 4 ,include: The unloading module 1 stores several tubular injection molded parts 2 that are attached end to end in sequence; The stacking robot 6 has a suction cup fixture at its end, which includes two parallel sets of auxiliary suction cups 7 and a tube suction cup set 8. The pallet discharge module 5 is located on one side of the unloading module 1 and is used to place the foam pallet 3 to be loaded and to transfer and discharge the loaded foam pallet 3. The pallet feeding module 4 is located on one side of the pallet discharging module 5 and is used for transferring and storing the foam pallets 3 to be loaded. Auxiliary suction cup assembly 7 is used to adsorb foam tray 3; The tubular suction cup assembly 8 is used to suction the tubular injection molded part 2 onto the foam tray 3 and to suction the foam tray 3 to cover the foam tray 3 after it has been loaded. The visual recognition module 9 is used to identify whether there is an empty row on the pallet and to locate the empty row closest to the unloading module 1; it is also used for pallet stacking alignment and to obtain the position information of the foam pallet 3 filled with pipe fittings on the pallet stacking area.

[0037] The unloading module can store tubular injection molded parts, providing materials for subsequent palletizing. The stacking robot is equipped with a suction cup fixture containing auxiliary suction cups and tubular suction cups, enabling the adsorption of foam pallets and tubular injection molded parts. The pallet unloading module can place foam pallets to be palletized and transfer the pallets after palletizing. The pallet feeding module can transfer and store foam pallets to be palletized, and the two work together to realize the circulation of foam pallets. The auxiliary suction cup group can adsorb foam pallets, and the tubular suction cup group can adsorb tubular injection molded parts onto foam pallets, and can also adsorb foam pallets for stacking. The vision recognition module can identify and locate empty pallet positions, as well as perform pallet stacking alignment, ensuring the precise placement of tubular injection molded parts and the accurate stacking of foam pallets, thereby improving palletizing quality, increasing operational stability, increasing production efficiency, and reducing labor intensity.

[0038] The pallet unloading module 5 and the pallet feeding module 4 have identical structures but opposite transport directions. The pallet feeding module 4 conveys the foam pallets 3 to be loaded to the bottom of the stacking robot 6 in the conveying direction. It is divided into a pallet adsorption area near the end of the conveying direction and a pallet pre-storage area near the front of the conveying direction. The pallet discharging module 5 conveys the loaded foam pallets 3 outward from the bottom of the stacking robot 6 in the conveying direction. It is divided into a pallet discharging area near the end of the conveying direction and a pallet stacking area near the front of the conveying direction.

[0039] This implementation sets the pallet unloading module and the pallet feeding module to have the same structure but opposite transport directions, which simplifies the design and manufacturing of the device and reduces costs. Dividing the pallet feeding module and the pallet unloading module into different areas according to the transport direction facilitates the orderly management and transfer of foam pallets, which helps to improve the efficiency of stacking tubular injection molded parts and the stability of system operation.

[0040] The foam tray 3 has n rows of empty spaces, and each row of empty spaces has m tube slots. The tube suction cup group 8 picks up m tubular injection molded parts 2 at a time and places them into the nth row of empty spaces. The tube suction cup group 8 has a number of tube suction cups and at least 2 tube suction cups at the same time adsorb each tubular injection molded part 2.

[0041] This implementation uses a tubular suction cup assembly to pick up m tubular injection molded parts at a time and place them into empty spaces on a foam tray, achieving efficient tray loading. Each tubular injection molded part is picked up by at least 2 tubular suction cups, ensuring the stability and reliability of the picking and helping to improve the tray loading quality.

[0042] The feeding module 1 includes: The unloading conveyor belt 1-1 provides power for conveying the tubular injection molded part 2; The unloading track 1-2 is set above the unloading conveyor belt 1-1, and only one tubular injection molded part 2 can pass through the unloading track 1-2 at a time. Baffle 1-3 is set at the end of the unloading conveyor belt 1-1 in the transport direction and is perpendicularly connected to the unloading track 1-2 to intercept the tubular injection molded part 2; Infrared counter 1-4 is set above the discharge track 1-2 on the side away from the baffle 1-3 when the discharge track 1-2 is full of m tubular injection molded parts 2. It is used to count the tubular injection molded parts 2 that pass through its detection range.

[0043] The conveyor belt provides power for transporting tubular injection molded parts, and the feeding track ensures that only one tubular injection molded part passes through at a time, guaranteeing orderly transport. The baffle can trap the tubular injection molded parts, causing them to accumulate within the track. The infrared counter can count the tubular injection molded parts passing through its detection range, achieving accurate counting of m tubular injection molded parts. Combined with the tube suction cup assembly, it can grab m tubes at once and place them row by row, helping to achieve efficient and orderly tray loading.

[0044] refer to Figure 5 The pallet feeding module 4 is provided with the following on one side: The first external sensor 10 is used to detect whether there is a foam pallet 3 waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area. If not, it reminds the staff to place the stacked foam pallets 3 waiting to be loaded. The second external sensor 11 is used to detect whether the stacked foam pallets 3 in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height limit. If so, it reminds the staff to reduce the number of stacked foam pallets 3. The third external sensor 12 is used to check whether there is a foam pallet 3 to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area. If not, when there is a foam pallet 3 to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area that does not exceed the height limit, the foam pallet 3 to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area is transferred to the pallet adsorption area.

[0045] The first external sensor in this implementation can detect whether there are foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area. If there are no pallets, it can remind staff to place them to ensure the supply of raw materials to the system. The second external sensor can detect whether the stacked foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height limit. If the limit is exceeded, it can remind staff to reduce the number of stacked pallets to prevent the stacking from affecting subsequent operations. The third external sensor can detect whether there are foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area. If there are no pallets and there are pallets in the pallet pre-storage area that do not exceed the height limit, the pallets are transferred to the pallet adsorption area to achieve reasonable allocation and supply of pallets and ensure the continuous and stable operation of the system.

[0046] The implementation principle of this embodiment is as follows: Through the coordinated work of various modules, this embodiment achieves automatic stacking of tubular injection molded parts. The unloading module ensures the orderly supply of tubular injection molded parts, the stacking robot completes the operation of foam trays and tubular injection molded parts through auxiliary suction cup groups and tubular part suction cup groups, the tray unloading module and tray feeding module realize the loading and unloading of foam trays, and the vision recognition module provides accurate positioning information for the stacking operation. Compared with traditional manual operation and partially automated equipment, this embodiment improves production efficiency, ensures pallet loading quality, solves the problems of accurate alignment, automatic pallet stacking, and linkage between unloading and loading, realizes unmanned operation of the entire process, reduces labor intensity, and has significant practicality and innovation, making a great improvement and contribution to existing technologies. Example

[0047] This embodiment proposes a method for stacking tubular injection molded parts based on Embodiment 1, applicable to the tubular injection molded part stacking device of Embodiment 1, see reference. Figure 1 This includes the following steps: S1, determine whether the unloading module stores m tubular injection molded parts; if yes, proceed to S2; otherwise, return to S1. S2: Foam pallets are stacked on the pallet stacking area. There are n rows of empty spaces for the foam pallets. Each row of empty spaces has m pipe slots. Determine whether there are empty spaces for the foam pallets. If yes, proceed to S3. If no, proceed to S4. S3: Control the stacking robot to pick up m tubular injection molded parts at once and place them in the empty space of the row closest to the unloading module. Determine if there is an empty space in the foam tray. If yes, return to S1; otherwise, execute S4. S4, determine whether the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area has reached the set value. If not, proceed to S5. If yes, transfer the foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area to the pallet unloading area, and then proceed to S5. S5, determine whether there is a foam pallet to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area. If yes, proceed to S6; otherwise, transfer the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area, and then proceed to S6.

[0048] This implementation enables automatic stacking of tubular injection molded parts. It can determine the number of tubular injection molded parts stored in the unloading module, the availability of foam trays, the number of foam trays stacked in the tray stacking area, and whether there are foam trays to be loaded in the tray adsorption area. This allows for the orderly picking up and placing of tubular injection molded parts, as well as the stacking and transfer of trays, improving production efficiency, achieving fully automated operation, and reducing labor intensity.

[0049] S6, control the stacking robot to pick up the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet adsorption area and stack it directly above the foam pallet full of pipes in the pallet stacking area, update the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area, and return to S1.

[0050] This implementation enables automatic stacking of foam pallets, updates the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area, and promotes the cyclical stacking process of tubular injection molded parts. It helps to achieve full automation from material unloading and palletizing to pallet stacking, improves production efficiency and system stability, and reduces labor intensity.

[0051] The pallet stacking area is equipped with a visual recognition module, which performs the following steps: Pallet empty space identification steps: The purpose is to identify whether there is an empty row on the pallet and locate the empty row closest to the unloading module. Subsequently, the control robot will generate corresponding operations based on the location and pick up m tubular injection molded parts at once to the empty row closest to the unloading module.

[0052] This implementation uses a visual recognition module to perform a pallet empty space recognition step. It can identify whether there is an empty row on the pallet and locate the empty row closest to the unloading module. Then, it controls the stacking robot to pick up m tubular injection molded parts at once and place them in the empty row closest to the unloading module. This ensures the accuracy of the placement of the tubular injection molded parts, solves the problem of misplacement caused by manual placement, and improves the quality of pallet loading.

[0053] Pallet stacking and alignment steps: Obtain the location information of foam pallets filled with pipe fittings in the pallet stacking area; Based on the position information of the foam pallets, the control stacking robot picks up the foam pallets to be loaded from the pallet adsorption area and stacks them directly above the foam pallets filled with pipe fittings in the pallet stacking area.

[0054] This implementation can accurately obtain the position information of the foam pallet filled with pipe fittings, and based on this information, control the stacking robot to precisely stack the foam pallet to be loaded onto the foam pallet filled with pipe fittings, thereby achieving precise stacking of foam pallets, avoiding misalignment during pallet stacking, improving loading quality and system stability.

[0055] The step S5, which involves transferring the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area, also includes the following steps: S501, determine whether there are stacked foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area. If yes, proceed to S502. If no, issue a foam pallet feeding reminder. S502, determine whether the stacked foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height threshold. If so, issue a foam pallet over-height warning; if not, transfer the foam pallets to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area.

[0056] This implementation refines the steps for transferring foam pallets awaiting loading from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area. It can determine whether there are stacked foam pallets awaiting loading in the pallet pre-storage area. If not, it issues a feeding reminder to ensure production continuity. It can also determine whether the foam pallets awaiting loading in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height threshold. If they do, it issues an over-height reminder to avoid problems caused by excessive stacking. When the conditions are met, the foam pallets awaiting loading are transferred to the pallet adsorption area, realizing intelligent management of pallet supply.

[0057] This embodiment also sets a specific application scenario to illustrate the specific working process of this application. The specific scenario is set as follows: Number of pipe fittings per row: m=5. The material feeding module will trigger a stacking operation after accumulating 5 injection molded parts each time.

[0058] Number of pallet rows: n=10, each pallet has a total of 10 rows, which is 50 pipe fittings.

[0059] Coordinate system definition: The Obase coordinate system for the robot arm base is as follows: the origin is located at the center of the robot arm mounting base, the X-axis is horizontal to the right, the Y-axis is horizontal forward, and the Z-axis is vertical upward.

[0060] Camera pixel coordinate system Opixel: The origin is located at the top left corner of the image, the u-axis is horizontal to the right, and the v-axis is vertical downward.

[0061] Visual recognition module: Fixedly installed directly above the pallet stacking area, hand-eye calibration has been completed. Based on this scenario, refer to Figure 2 The pallet empty space identification step includes: S31, Visual Calibration: Establish the transformation matrix between the camera pixel coordinate system of the visual recognition module and the coordinate system of the stacking robot base, and pre-store the theoretical physical coordinates of each pipe slot on the foam tray. This includes the following steps: Establishing the coordinate system transformation matrix (offline calibration): Hand-eye calibration yields the transformation matrix T cam2robot : ; Where: R 3×3 Let t be the rotation matrix, representing the rotation relationship between the camera coordinate system and the robot arm base coordinate system; 3×1 The translation vector represents the position of the camera coordinate system origin in the robot arm base coordinate system.

[0062] Pre-store the theoretical placement coordinates of the pipe groove in the i-th row and j-th column in the robot's base coordinate system: P theory (i,j)=(X theory (i,j),Y theory (i,j),Z theory ); Where: i = 1, 2, ..., 10 are row indices, i = 1 represents the first row closest to the unloading module; j = 1, 2, ..., 5 are column indices; Z theory This is the theoretical Z-axis height (height of the upper surface of the pallet) when the number of stacked layers is 1.

[0063] S32, Image Acquisition: When it is determined that the unloading module has stored m tubular injection molded parts, the vision recognition module is triggered to acquire the image of the top layer of foam pallet in the pallet stacking area, and perform grayscale binarization and morphological filtering processing. The specific steps are as follows: Compensate for the current stacking layer number: Let the current number of stacked foam pallets be k (k≥1), and the thickness of a single pallet be h. tray The actual Z-axis height of the topmost pallet surface: Z current =Z base +(k−1)×h tray ; Where: Z base The reference height (i.e., Z) of the upper surface of the first pallet in the coordinate system of the robot arm base. theory h tray The thickness of a single foam tray. The system maintains a variable k, which is initially 1. Each time stacking is performed in S6, k is incremented by 1; when tray transfer is performed in S4, k is reset to 1.

[0064] Acquire the current topmost tray image I and convert the image to grayscale: I gray =0.299R+0.587G+0.114B; Binarize the image and set a threshold T. bin The binary image I is obtained. binary : ; Wherein: T bin The grayscale threshold is preset according to the on-site lighting conditions to distinguish between pipe fittings (highlights) and empty slots (dark areas).

[0065] S33, Empty Row Recognition: The slot status of each row of pipe fittings is detected by template matching or Blob analysis to identify empty slots. Starting from the side closest to the unloading module, each row is scanned to find the first row with m consecutive empty slots and lock it as the target row. The specific steps are as follows: Define the row status function RowStatus(i): ; Starting from i=1 (the row closest to the unloading module), increment the scan to find the first row index i that satisfies RowStatus(i)=0. target If not found, output "Current tray is full" and proceed to S4.

[0066] S34, Coordinate generation: Extract the center pixel coordinates of m consecutive empty spaces in the target row, convert them into the placement coordinates of the stacking robot using the transformation matrix, and dynamically compensate the Z-axis coordinates according to the current stacking height of the foam trays. Identify the i-th element in the image target The center pixel coordinates of the 5 consecutive empty slots in the row: P pixel (j)=(u center (j),v center (j)), j=1,2,…,5.

[0067] Using calibration matrix T cam2robot Convert pixel coordinates to placement coordinates in the robot arm base coordinate system: ; Where: X place (j), Y place (j) represents the X and Y coordinates of the j-th pipe fitting in the coordinate system of the robot's base; Z place (j) is the Z coordinate obtained after transformation.

[0068] The actual placement height is determined by using a preset theoretical Z-coordinate plus layer compensation. Z final =Z base +(k−1)×h tray ; Final placement coordinates: P final (j)=(X place (j),Y place (j),Z final ); S35, Placement Execution: The stacking robot inserts m tubular injection molded parts into the empty positions of the row closest to the unloading module in one go, according to the placement coordinates. The robot's end effector carries 5 injection molded parts and moves them sequentially to the Pfinal(j) coordinate position to complete the insertion.

[0069] This implementation establishes a transformation matrix between the camera pixel coordinate system of the visual recognition module and the base coordinate system of the stacking robot. It pre-stores the theoretical physical coordinates of each tube slot on the foam tray, acquires and processes foam tray images, can identify empty spaces and find target rows, converts the pixel coordinates of the center point of the empty space in the target row into the placement coordinates of the stacking robot and compensates the Z-axis coordinates, so that the stacking robot can accurately insert m tubular injection molded parts into the empty space of the row closest to the unloading module at one time according to the placement coordinates. This achieves high-precision tray loading based on vision guidance and eliminates the misalignment problem caused by the cumulative error of mechanical positioning.

[0070] Based on this scenario, refer to Figure 3 The pallet stacking and alignment step includes: S61, Lower pallet positioning: When the foam pallet in the pallet stacking area is full of tubular injection molded parts and a new pallet needs to be stacked, the vision recognition module collects the image of the current top foam pallet, identifies the positioning features of the four corners of the pallet, and calculates the center point coordinates and rotation angle of the current pallet. When the current tray is full (all 10 rows are filled), trigger the lower tray pose acquisition (first positioning): The camera captures an image of the lower full tray, identifies the positioning holes or Mark points at the four corners of the tray, and obtains the pixel coordinates of three non-collinear feature points A, B, and C: A pixel =(u A ,v A ),B pixel =(u B ,v B ),C pixel =(u C ,v C ).

[0071] Convert the coordinates to the robot's base coordinate system using the calibration matrix: A robot =T cam2robot ⋅(u A ,v A ,0,1) T Similarly, we get B. robot C robot .

[0072] Calculate the center point and rotation angle of the lower tray: Pallet center point coordinates: ; Where: X A ,Y A For A robot The X and Y coordinates are the same, and the rest are similar.

[0073] The angle of rotation of the tray relative to the theoretical angle: ; Where: θ theory θ is the theoretical rotation angle of the pallet under ideal placement, typically 0°. down This represents the actual rotational deviation of the current lower pallet (in radians).

[0074] S62, Pallet Pickup: The stacking robot moves to the pallet adsorption area and uses the end suction cup fixture to pick up the foam pallet to be loaded. The suction cup fixture is equipped with a floating mechanism, and specifically includes the following steps: The robotic arm moves to the tray adsorption area and uses the end suction cup fixture to pick up a foam tray to be loaded. The robotic arm carries the tray to be loaded to a predetermined height H above the center of the camera's field of view. scan For example, at a 200mm aperture, the camera captures the positioning features (three Mark points) on the bottom of the tray to be loaded, obtaining the pixel coordinates: D pixel =(u D ,v D ),E pixel =(u E ,v E ),F pixel =(u F ,v F ).

[0075] Calculate the offset of the tray to be loaded relative to the end effector of the robotic arm: Transform to the robot arm base coordinate system: D robot =T cam2robot ⋅(u D ,v D ,0,1) T ; Similarly, we get E robot F robot .

[0076] Coordinates of the center point of the tray to be loaded: ; Where: X D ,Y D D robot The X and Y coordinates.

[0077] Calculate the offset vector of the pallet to be loaded relative to the end effector of the robotic arm: ΔP offset =P center_top -P flange ; Where: P flangeThe coordinates of the center of the end flange of the robot arm in the robot arm base coordinate system at the current moment.

[0078] S63, Stacking Alignment: The stacking robot moves the pallet to be loaded to a predetermined height above the pallet stacking area. The vision recognition module collects the positioning features of the bottom of the pallet to be loaded again. Combined with the pose of the lower pallet obtained in step S61, the final placement coordinates are calculated to align the center of the pallet to be loaded with the center of the lower pallet and ensure that the rotation angle is consistent. This includes the following steps: Overlay coordinate calculation: P final_place =P center_down −ΔP offset ; Where: P center_down Here are the coordinates of the center point of the lower tray; ΔP offset This is the offset of the tray to be loaded relative to the end of the robotic arm.

[0079] Align the rotation angles: The robotic arm's end effector needs to be rotated to the same angle as the lower tray during placement: θ final =θ down .

[0080] A security verification step is also required: If the offset or rotation angle exceeds the safety threshold, the system will pause and issue an alarm. ; in: Δ is the Euclidean norm of the offset vector; max The maximum permissible translation offset, such as 10mm; θ max The maximum permissible rotational deviation is 2°.

[0081] S64, Placement and Release: The stacking robot descends vertically at a predetermined speed. After the suction cup fixture contacts the surface of the lower foam tray, the floating mechanism compresses and absorbs the height tolerance, sequentially shutting off the suction cup air path. The tray to be loaded is then placed directly above the foam tray filled with pipe fittings. The specific steps include: The height is determined by the current stacking layer number, with the target being the top surface of the k-th layer. Z place_layer =Z base +k×h tray ; Where: k is the current stacked layer number, the new tray to be placed will become the k+1th layer, but the target Z coordinate when placed is the upper surface of the kth layer.

[0082] During the descent and release process, the robotic arm carries the tray to be loaded to (P) final_place Z place_layer +Hsafe At a safe height above, then at a low speed (v) down =20mm / s vertical descent to Z place_layer The floating mechanism of the suction cup fixture compresses and absorbs the height tolerance. After the pressure sensor detects the contact force, the suction cups are released in the order of periphery first and then center to complete the stacking.

[0083] This implementation uses a visual recognition module to collect images of the top layer foam tray, identify its positioning features, and calculate its center point coordinates and rotation angle. Combined with the bottom positioning features of the tray to be loaded, it calculates the final placement coordinates, ensuring that the tray to be loaded is aligned with the center of the lower layer tray and has the same rotation angle, achieving precise stacking. The suction cup fixture is equipped with a floating mechanism. After the stacking robot descends vertically and the suction cup fixture contacts the surface of the lower layer foam tray, it can compress and absorb height tolerances, ensuring the stability and accuracy of foam tray stacking, improving the quality of foam tray stacking and the stability of system operation.

[0084] The implementation principle of this embodiment is as follows: The stacking method in this embodiment achieves automatic stacking of tubular injection molded parts and automatic stacking of foam pallets through a series of judgment and operation steps. Each step is interconnected, forming a closed-loop control process, ensuring the orderly progress of the entire stacking process. Compared with the traditional manual stacking method, this method improves production efficiency, ensures stacking quality, and solves the static electricity problem during pallet stacking, thus improving system stability. Through precise judgment and control, the entire process is automated, reducing manual labor intensity and making a significant improvement and contribution to existing technologies.

[0085] The above are all preferred embodiments of this application, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, all equivalent changes made in accordance with the structure, shape and principle of this application should be covered within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A method for stacking tubular injection molded parts, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1, determine whether the unloading module stores m tubular injection molded parts; if yes, proceed to S2; otherwise, return to S1. S2: Foam pallets are stacked on the pallet stacking area. There are n rows of empty spaces for the foam pallets. Each row of empty spaces has m pipe slots. Determine whether there are empty spaces for the foam pallets. If yes, proceed to S3. If no, proceed to S4. S3: Control the stacking robot to pick up m tubular injection molded parts at once and place them in the empty space of the row closest to the unloading module. Determine if there is an empty space in the foam tray. If yes, return to S1; otherwise, execute S4. S4, determine whether the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area has reached the set value. If not, proceed to S5. If yes, transfer the foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area to the pallet unloading area, and then proceed to S5. S5, determine whether there is a foam pallet to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area. If yes, proceed to S6; otherwise, transfer the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area, and then proceed to S6. S6, control the stacking robot to pick up the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet adsorption area and stack it directly above the foam pallet full of pipes in the pallet stacking area, update the number of foam pallets stacked in the pallet stacking area, and return to S1.

2. The method for stacking tubular injection molded parts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pallet stacking area is equipped with a visual recognition module, which performs the following steps: Pallet empty space identification steps: The purpose is to identify whether there is an empty row on the pallet and locate the empty row closest to the unloading module. Subsequently, the stacking robot is controlled to generate corresponding operations based on the location and pick up m tubular injection molded parts at once to the empty row closest to the unloading module. Pallet stacking and alignment steps: Obtain the location information of foam pallets filled with pipe fittings in the pallet stacking area; Based on the position information of the foam pallets, the control stacking robot picks up the foam pallets to be loaded from the pallet adsorption area and stacks them directly above the foam pallets filled with pipe fittings in the pallet stacking area.

3. The method for stacking tubular injection molded parts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step S5, which involves transferring the foam pallet to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area, also includes the following steps: S501, determine whether there are stacked foam pallets waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area. If yes, proceed to S502. If no, issue a foam pallet feeding reminder. S502, determine whether the stacked foam pallets to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height threshold. If so, issue a foam pallet over-height warning; if not, transfer the foam pallets to be loaded from the pallet pre-storage area to the pallet adsorption area.

4. The method for stacking tubular injection molded parts according to claim 2, characterized in that, The pallet empty space identification step includes: S31, establish the transformation matrix between the camera pixel coordinate system of the visual recognition module and the coordinate system of the stacking robot base, and pre-store the theoretical physical coordinates of each pipe slot on the foam tray; S32, when it is determined that the unloading module stores m tubular injection molded parts, the vision recognition module is triggered to collect the image of the top layer of foam pallet in the pallet stacking area and perform grayscale binarization and morphological filtering processing. S33 detects the slot status of each row of pipe fittings through template matching or Blob analysis, identifies empty slots, and scans row by row starting from the side closest to the feeding module to find the first row with m consecutive empty slots and locks it as the target row. S34, extract the center pixel coordinates of m consecutive empty spaces in the target row, convert them into the placement coordinates of the stacking robot using the transformation matrix, and dynamically compensate the Z-axis coordinates according to the current stacking height of the foam trays. S35, the stacking robot inserts m tubular injection molded parts into the empty space of the row closest to the unloading module in one go, according to the placement coordinates.

5. The method for stacking tubular injection molded parts according to claim 2, characterized in that, The pallet stacking and alignment steps include: S61, when the foam pallet in the pallet stacking area is full of tubular injection molded parts and a new pallet needs to be stacked, the vision recognition module collects the image of the current top foam pallet, identifies the positioning features of the four corners of the pallet, and calculates the center point coordinates and rotation angle of the current pallet. S62, the stacking robot moves to the tray adsorption area and uses the end suction cup fixture to pick up the foam tray to be loaded. The suction cup fixture is equipped with a floating mechanism. S63, the stacking robot moves the pallet to be loaded to a predetermined height above the pallet stacking area. The vision recognition module collects the positioning features of the bottom of the pallet to be loaded again. Combined with the pose of the lower pallet obtained in step S61, the final placement coordinates are calculated so that the pallet to be loaded is aligned with the center of the lower pallet and the rotation angle is the same. S64, the stacking robot descends vertically at a predetermined speed. After the suction cup fixture contacts the surface of the lower foam tray, it uses the floating mechanism to compress and absorb the height tolerance, and then sequentially closes the suction cup air path, placing the tray to be loaded directly above the foam tray filled with pipes.

6. A tubular injection molded part stacking device, applicable to the tubular injection molded part stacking method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that it comprises: The unloading module (1) stores several tubular injection molded parts (2) that are attached end to end in sequence. The stacking robot (6) has a suction cup fixture at its end, which includes two sets of parallel auxiliary suction cups (7) and a pipe suction cup set (8). The pallet discharge module (5) is located on one side of the unloading module (1) and is used to place the foam pallets (3) to be loaded and to transfer the loaded foam pallets (3) to discharge. The pallet feeding module (4) is located on one side of the pallet discharging module (5) and is used to transfer and store the foam pallets (3) to be loaded. Auxiliary suction cup assembly (7) is used to adsorb foam tray (3); The tubular suction cup assembly (8) is used to suction the tubular injection molded part (2) onto the foam tray (3) and to suction the foam tray (3) to cover the foam tray (3) after it has been loaded. The visual recognition module (9) is used to identify whether there is a row of empty spaces on the pallet and to locate the empty space closest to the unloading module (1); it is also used for pallet stacking alignment and to obtain the position information of the foam pallet (3) filled with pipe fittings on the pallet stacking area.

7. A tubular injection molded part stacking device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The pallet unloading module (5) and the pallet feeding module (4) have the same structure but opposite transport directions. The pallet feeding module (4) conveys the foam pallet (3) to be loaded to the bottom of the stacking robot (6) in the direction of conveying. It is divided into a pallet adsorption area near the end of the conveying direction and a pallet pre-storage area near the front of the conveying direction in the direction of conveying. The pallet discharging module (5) conveys the loaded foam pallet (3) from the bottom of the stacking robot (6) in the direction of conveying. It is divided into a pallet discharging area near the end of the conveying direction and a pallet stacking area near the front of the conveying direction in the direction of conveying.

8. A tubular injection molded part stacking device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The foam tray (3) has n rows of empty spaces, and each row of empty spaces has m tube slots. The tube suction cup group (8) picks up m tubular injection molded parts (2) at a time and places them on the nth row of empty spaces. The tube suction cup group (8) has a number of tube suction cups and at least 2 tube suction cups adsorb each tubular injection molded part (2) at the same time.

9. A tubular injection molded part stacking device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The feeding module (1) includes: The unloading conveyor belt (1-1) provides power for conveying the tubular injection molded parts (2); The unloading track (1-2) is set above the unloading conveyor belt (1-1), and only one tubular injection molded part (2) passes through the unloading track (1-2) at a time; Baffle (1-3) is set at the end of the conveyor belt (1-1) in the transport direction and is perpendicularly connected to the unloading track (1-2) to intercept the tubular injection molded part (2). An infrared counter (1-4) is set above the feed track (1-2) on the side away from the baffle (1-3) when the feed track (1-2) is full of m tubular injection molded parts (2). It is used to count the tubular injection molded parts (2) that pass through its detection range.

10. A tubular injection molded part stacking device according to claim 6, characterized in that, One side of the pallet feeding module (4) is provided with: The first external sensor (10) is used to detect whether there is a foam pallet (3) to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area. If not, it reminds the staff to place the stacked foam pallets (3) to be loaded. The second external sensor (11) is used to detect whether the stacked foam pallets (3) waiting to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area exceed the height limit. If so, it reminds the staff to reduce the number of stacked foam pallets (3) waiting to be loaded. The third external sensor (12) is used to check whether there is a foam pallet (3) to be loaded in the pallet adsorption area. If not, when there is a foam pallet (3) to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area that does not exceed the height limit, the foam pallet (3) to be loaded in the pallet pre-storage area is transferred to the pallet adsorption area.

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