An automatic pad printing apparatus and a control method thereof

Abstract

This invention relates to the field of pad printing equipment technology, and in particular to an automatic pad printing device and its control method. The pad printing device includes a main body, an ink supply mechanism, a pad printing mechanism, a multi-station turntable mechanism, and a vision positioning mechanism. The multi-station turntable mechanism includes a turntable and a workpiece platform, with at least one first workpiece placement position on the workpiece platform. The turntable has at least a feeding station, a dust removal station, a pad printing station, and a drying station in its circumferential direction. Any workpiece platform can be rotated to one of the feeding station, dust removal station, pad printing station, and drying station via the turntable. The pad printing mechanism moves between the ink supply mechanism and the first workpiece placement position. The vision positioning mechanism performs visual positioning of the first workpiece placement position at the pad printing station. Before pad printing, the vision positioning mechanism can take an image of the workpiece to be pad printed to locate its position, and adjust the pad printing posture of the pad printing mechanism accordingly to improve pad printing accuracy, pad printing quality, and pad printing efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the technical field of pad printing equipment, and more particularly to an automatic pad printing device and its control method. Background Technology

[0002] Existing pad printing equipment generally uses independently separate feeding, conveying, pad printing, and unloading mechanisms. These mechanisms are connected by external conveyor belts or manual transfer by operators, resulting in the pad printing production equipment occupying a large area. Moreover, in terms of the timing coordination between feeding and pad printing, the feeding mechanism must wait for the pad printing mechanism to complete printing and reset before it can feed again, and the unloading mechanism must also wait for the pad printing station to release before it can pick up the parts. This cycle causes the operation cycles of each mechanism to be mutually constrained, and there is a lot of idle waiting time within each process cycle, resulting in low pad printing processing efficiency.

[0003] This invention was proposed in response to the shortcomings of existing technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention addresses the problem in existing pad printing equipment mentioned above, where the processes are connected by external conveyor belts or manual transfer by operators, resulting in the pad printing production equipment occupying a large area and a large amount of idle waiting time within each process cycle, leading to low pad printing processing efficiency. The invention proposes an automatic pad printing device and its control method.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by this invention to solve its technical problem is: An automatic pad printing device includes a main body of the device, and an ink supply mechanism, a pad printing mechanism, a multi-station turntable mechanism and a vision positioning mechanism disposed in the main body of the device; The multi-station turntable mechanism includes a turntable and several workpiece platforms arranged circumferentially on the turntable, and the workpiece platforms are provided with at least one first workpiece placement position. The main body of the equipment has at least a feeding station, a dust removal station, a pad printing station and a drying station around the turntable in the circumferential direction. Any of the workpiece carriers can be rotated to one of the feeding station, dust removal station, pad printing station and drying station via the turntable. The pad printing mechanism moves between the ink supply mechanism and the first workpiece placement position at the pad printing station to perform pad printing on the workpiece. The visual positioning mechanism is used to visually position the first workpiece at the pad printing station in order to adjust the pad printing posture of the pad printing mechanism.

[0006] As described above, in an automatic pad printing device, the vision positioning mechanism includes a first vision module located below the turntable and corresponding to the pad printing station. The first vision module performs visual positioning of the workpiece's positioning surface to adjust the pad printing posture of the pad printing mechanism. The first vision module includes at least one vision component, which includes a camera and a light source, with the light source positioned above the camera.

[0007] As described above, in an automatic pad printing device, the vision positioning mechanism further includes a second vision module slidably disposed above the turntable and a first driving device connected to the second vision module. The second vision module performs visual positioning of the workpiece to be printed, thereby adjusting the printing posture of the pad printing mechanism. The first driving device drives the second vision module to move closer to or further away from the printing station. The second vision module includes at least one vision component two, the vision component two including a camera two and a light source two, the light source two being disposed below the camera two; the first driving device and the second vision module are connected by a connecting bracket, the camera two and the light source two being disposed opposite each other on the connecting bracket.

[0008] An automatic pad printing device as described above, the pad printing mechanism includes at least one pad printing head, a second driving device connected to the pad printing head, and a rotating device disposed between the second driving device and the pad printing head, wherein the second driving device drives the pad printing head to move between the ink supply mechanism and the first workpiece placement position at the pad printing station; The second driving device includes a first moving component disposed on the main body of the device and a second moving component connected to the first moving component. The moving directions of the first moving component and the second moving component are perpendicular, and the rotating device is disposed between the second moving component and the pad printing head.

[0009] As described above, in an automatic pad printing device, the pad printing mechanism further includes a fine-tuning drive device disposed between the second driving device and the rotating device. The fine-tuning drive device is disposed corresponding to the pad printing head. The fine-tuning drive device includes a third moving component with the second moving component and a fourth moving component disposed between the third moving component and the rotating device. The moving directions of the third moving component and the fourth moving component are perpendicular to each other.

[0010] As described above, in an automatic pad printing device, any of the workpiece carriers includes at least one clamping assembly for fixing the workpiece. The clamping assembly includes a first clamping part and a second clamping part disposed on the turntable. A first workpiece placement position can be formed between the first clamping part and the second clamping part. The first clamping part can move closer to or away from the second clamping part to clamp or release the workpiece. Furthermore, the turntable is provided with a shooting channel corresponding to the visual positioning mechanism, and the shooting channel is set one-to-one with the first workpiece placement position.

[0011] An automatic pad printing device as described above further includes a third driving device disposed on the turntable and near the center of the turntable. The third driving device is connected to the first clamping part in each of the workpiece carriers. The second clamping part in each of the workpiece carriers is near the outer edge of the turntable. The third driving device drives the first clamping part to move closer to or away from the second clamping part.

[0012] An automatic pad printing device as described above further includes a material hopper located on one side of the multi-station turntable mechanism and the ink supply mechanism, and a feeding mechanism located between the material hopper and the multi-station turntable mechanism. The material hopper includes at least one material tray, on which a plurality of second workpiece placement positions are arranged. The feeding mechanism is capable of moving between the second workpiece placement positions and the first workpiece placement position located at the feeding station to transport workpieces.

[0013] As described above, in an automatic pad printing device, the feeding mechanism includes a fourth driving device disposed on the main body of the device and a gripper device connected to the fourth driving device. The gripper device includes a front row gripper module and a rear row gripper module arranged front and rear. Both the front row gripper module and the rear row gripper module include at least one gripper assembly. The gripper assemblies in the front row gripper module and the rear row gripper module correspond to the first workpiece placement position, respectively. The fourth driving device includes a fifth moving component disposed on the main body of the device and a sixth moving component disposed between the fifth moving component and the gripper device, wherein the moving directions of the fifth moving component and the sixth moving component are perpendicular to each other. Each of the gripper assemblies includes a third clamping portion and a fourth clamping portion that can be opened and closed relative to each other, and the third clamping portion and the fourth clamping portion can form a second workpiece placement position. The inner sides of the third clamping portion and the fourth clamping portion are respectively provided with a first anti-detachment pad and a second anti-detachment pad. The clamping surfaces of the first anti-detachment pad and the second anti-detachment pad are provided with a plurality of vertically arranged transverse anti-detachment grooves, and the clamping surfaces of the first anti-detachment pad and the second anti-detachment pad are respectively adapted to the outer contour of the workpiece.

[0014] The present invention also provides a control method for an automatic pad printing device, the control method being implemented using the pad printing device described above, and the control method comprising at least the following steps: S100. The workpiece to be transferred is conveyed to the workpiece carrier in the feeding station, and the workpiece to be transferred is fixed by the workpiece carrier. S200: The workpiece to be printed is rotated to the dust removal station by the turntable, and the workpiece to be printed is dusted. S300. The dust-removed workpiece to be transferred is rotated to the transfer station by a turntable. The position of the workpiece to be transferred is located by a vision positioning mechanism to adjust the transfer posture of the transfer mechanism and locate the transfer position of the transfer mechanism, wherein the transfer position corresponds to the workpiece to be transferred. S400: The pad printing mechanism takes ink from the ink supply mechanism and moves it to the workpiece to be printed for pad printing. S500: The printed workpiece is rotated to the drying station by a turntable and waits for the preset drying time. S600: The dried workpiece is rotated to the feeding station by a turntable for unloading.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: 1. Pad printing equipment can load workpieces on each station platform on the turntable and switch between different processing stations by rotation to achieve rapid workpiece transport. The multi-station turntable structure replaces the conveyor belt transport method in traditional pad printing equipment, shortening the transport journey of workpieces between different process stations, thereby improving pad printing efficiency and improving the structural compactness of pad printing equipment, which is conducive to reducing the size of the equipment and the space occupied by the pad printing equipment. 2. Before pad printing, the pad printing equipment can take images of the workpiece to be printed through a vision positioning mechanism to locate the position of the workpiece. Then, the processing control system of the pad printing equipment can adjust the pad printing posture of the pad printing mechanism, which helps to improve the pad printing accuracy, quality and efficiency.

[0016] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of the pad printing equipment of the present invention; Figure 2 The three-dimensional representation of the pad printing apparatus of the present invention Figure 1 ; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the workstation layout of the turntable of the present invention; Figure 4 The three-dimensional representation of the pad printing apparatus of the present invention Figure 2 ; Figure 5 A perspective view of another alternative embodiment of the clamping assembly of the workpiece stage of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a perspective view of the pad printing mechanism and the visual positioning mechanism of the pad printing apparatus of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a perspective view of the feeding mechanism of the pad printing equipment of the present invention; Figure 8 This is a perspective view of the gripper assembly of the pad printing apparatus of the present invention; Figure 9 This is a perspective view of the second anti-detachment pad of the gripper assembly of the present invention; Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the dust removal mechanism of the present invention (with the air supply device hidden). In the diagram: 1. Main body of the equipment; 10. Ink supply mechanism; 101. First assembly bracket; 102. Second assembly bracket; 11. Pad printing mechanism; 110. Pad printing pad; 111. Second drive device; 1111. First moving component; 11111. Third guide rail; 11112. Fourth guide rail; 11113. Second sliding device; 1112. Second moving component; 112. Rotating device; 12. Multi-station turntable mechanism; 120. First workpiece placement position; 121. Turntable; 122. Workpiece platform; 1221. Fixture assembly Components; 12211, First clamping part; 12212, Second clamping part; 123, Third driving device; 1231, Main driving source; 1232, Third sliding device; 13, Visual positioning mechanism; 131, First vision module; 1311, Vision component one; 13111, Camera one; 13112, Light source one; 13113, Light shield; 132, Second vision module; 1321, Vision component two; 13211, Camera two; 13212, Light source two; 133, First driving device; 1331, First guide rail; 1332, Second guide rail; 1333, First sliding device; 134, Connecting bracket; 14, Hopper; 1401, Raw material area; 14011, First lifting bracket; 1402, Transplanting area; 1403, Finished product area; 14031, Second lifting bracket; 141, Material tray; 142, Second workpiece placement position; 15, Feeding mechanism; 151, Fourth driving device; 1511, Fifth moving component; 1512, Sixth moving component; 152, Gripper device; 15201, Gripper assembly; 152011, Third clamping device Part; 152012, Fourth clamping part; 152013, First anti-detachment pad; 152014, Second anti-detachment pad; 152015, Lateral anti-detachment texture; 152016, First limiting part; 152017, Second limiting part; 1521, Front row gripper module; 1522, Rear row gripper module; 161, Ink cup area; 162, Ink dispensing area; 163, Cleaning area; 17, Dust removal mechanism; 171, Dust removal bracket; 172, Nozzle; W1, Feeding station; W2, Dust removal station; W3, Pad printing station; W4, Drying station. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The described embodiments are merely some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0019] It should be noted that all directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) in the embodiments of the present invention are only used to explain the relative positional relationship and movement of each component in a certain specific posture (as shown in the figure). If the specific posture changes, the directional indication will also change accordingly.

[0020] Furthermore, the use of terms such as "first" and "second" in this invention is for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. Additionally, the technical solutions of the various embodiments can be combined with each other, but only on the basis of being achievable by those skilled in the art. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or impossible to implement, such a combination of technical solutions should be considered non-existent and not within the scope of protection claimed by this invention.

[0021] Example 1: like Figures 1 to 10 As shown, the present invention provides an automatic pad printing device, including a device body 1, and an ink supply mechanism 10, a pad printing mechanism 11, a multi-station turntable mechanism 12, and a vision positioning mechanism 13 disposed in the device body 1; the multi-station turntable mechanism 12 includes a turntable 121 and a plurality of workpiece platforms 122 arranged circumferentially on the turntable 121, and at least one first workpiece placement position 120 is provided on the workpiece platform 122 for placing workpieces; the device body 1 has at least a feeding station W1, a dust removal station W2, and a pad printing station circumferentially around the turntable 121. W3 and drying station W4, any of the workpiece stage 122 can be rotated to one of the feeding station W1, dust removal station W2, pad printing station W3 and drying station W4 via the turntable 121; ink is supplied by the ink supply mechanism 10 and the pad printing mechanism 11 is cleaned; the pad printing mechanism 11 moves between the ink supply mechanism 10 and the first workpiece placement position 120 at the pad printing station W3 to perform pad printing operation on the workpiece; the visual positioning mechanism 13 performs visual positioning on the first workpiece placement position 120 at the pad printing station W3 to adjust the pad printing posture of the pad printing mechanism 11.

[0022] In this embodiment of the pad printing equipment, workpieces can be loaded onto the various workstations on the turntable 121, and different processing stations can be switched by rotation to achieve rapid workpiece transport. The multi-station turntable 121 structure replaces the conveyor belt transport method in traditional pad printing equipment, shortening the transport distance between different process stations, thereby improving pad printing efficiency and enhancing the structural compactness of the pad printing equipment, which helps to reduce the equipment size and space occupied. Furthermore, before pad printing, the visual positioning mechanism 13 can capture images of the workpiece to be printed. The position of the workpiece to be printed is determined by the camera, and the printing posture of the printing mechanism 11 is adjusted by the processing control system of the printing equipment, which helps to improve printing accuracy, printing quality and printing efficiency. The printing posture includes printing position and printing attitude. The printing position can be understood as the displacement control of the printing mechanism 11 between the ink supply mechanism 10 and the printing station W3, ensuring that the output end of the printing mechanism 11 can accurately find the workpiece to be printed. The printing attitude can be understood as adjusting the printing direction of the output end of the printing mechanism 11 by rotation to adjust the printing pattern, etc., to ensure printing quality and yield.

[0023] In this embodiment, the feeding station W1, dust removal station W2, pad printing station W3, and drying station W4 are evenly distributed around the turntable 121 in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. These four stations are arranged sequentially according to the pad printing process: loading, dust removal, pad printing, drying, and unloading. In this embodiment, the loading and unloading stations are integrated into the same feeding station W1, and the loading and unloading operations of the workpieces between the turntable 121 and the material bin 14 are realized through a corresponding feeding mechanism 15. This further simplifies the structural design of the pad printing equipment, improves the integration of the pad printing process, and helps to improve the structural compactness of the pad printing equipment, reduce the equipment size, and ensures that each workpiece platform 122 is evenly distributed around the turntable 121. The turntable 121 can rotate by a preset angle (e.g., 90°) each time, which can rotate any of the workpiece carriers 122 to different workstations, so as to realize the fully automatic pad printing process of a single workpiece, which greatly improves the pad printing efficiency. In addition, the turntable 121 is also provided with several workpiece carriers 122 evenly distributed around the circumference. The number of workpiece carriers 122 can be set to correspond to the number of process workstations. For example, in this embodiment, there are four workpiece carriers 122, which can correspond to the four process workstations mentioned above. In practical applications, as the turntable 121 rotates, the four workpiece carriers 122 can be rotated to different workstations in sequence according to the processing order for processing, which greatly shortens the workpiece transport time and further improves the processing efficiency.

[0024] Optionally, the visual positioning mechanism 13 in this embodiment can be configured to capture images through a camera, and then analyze the precise position and printing posture of the workpiece based on the captured images. For example, the workpiece position can be located collaboratively through the image coordinate system and the UVS platform, thereby realizing closed-loop movement control and posture adjustment control of the printing mechanism 11, achieving high-precision printing alignment, which is beneficial to improving printing accuracy and printing quality.

[0025] Figure 2 This diagram illustrates one specific embodiment of the visual positioning mechanism 13 of this solution. The visual positioning mechanism 13 includes a first visual module 131 located below the turntable 121 and corresponding to the pad printing station W3. The first visual module 131 performs visual positioning of the workpiece's positioning surface to adjust the pad printing posture of the pad printing mechanism 11. The first visual module 131 is fixedly arranged below the turntable 121 and corresponding to the pad printing station W3. In practical applications, the two opposite sides of the workpiece have a positioning surface and a surface to be printed, respectively. When the workpiece is placed at the first workpiece placement position 120, the positioning surface of the workpiece faces downward and is opposite to the shooting end of the first visual module 131, while the surface to be printed faces upward. Before pad printing, the positioning surface of the workpiece can be visually positioned by the first visual module 131, for example, by visually positioning the bottom features of the workpiece contained in the positioning surface, to determine the actual position of the pad printing station W3, or to determine the actual position of the workpiece at the pad printing station W3, thereby adjusting the pad printing posture parameters such as the moving direction, moving distance, and rotation center position of the pad printing mechanism 11.

[0026] Optionally, the first vision module 131 includes at least one vision component 1311, which includes a camera 13111 and a light source 13112. The imaging end of the first vision module 131 is disposed on the camera 13111, and the light source 13112 is disposed above the camera 13111. The light source 13112 is disposed in the device body 1 via a mounting bracket. A hollow channel is provided inside the light source 13112 and the mounting bracket. The imaging end of the camera 13111 is opposite to the hollow channel. When the first vision module 131 is running, the light source 13112 and the camera 13111 cooperate to capture an image of the workpiece positioning surface. The light source 13112 can be constructed as a ring-shaped light source to improve the uniformity of the imaging light source, eliminate shadows on the workpiece, improve image quality, and thus improve image positioning accuracy. In this embodiment, the camera 13111 can be configured as a CCD camera or a CMOS camera, which is not specifically limited here.

[0027] Optionally, the main body 1 of the device is provided with a light shield 13113 surrounding the camera 13111. By setting the light shield 13113 to block external cluttered light source interference, the image quality of the vision component 1311 is improved, and the positioning accuracy of the workpiece to be printed during the pad printing process is improved.

[0028] Figure 2 and Figure 6 This illustration shows a second specific embodiment of the visual positioning mechanism 13 of this solution. The visual positioning mechanism 13 further includes a second visual module 132 slidably disposed above the turntable 121 and a first driving device 133 connected to the second visual module 132. The second visual module 132 performs visual positioning of the workpiece to be transferred, thereby adjusting the transfer posture of the transfer mechanism 11. The first driving device 133 drives the second visual module 132 to move closer to or away from the transfer station W3. Specifically, the second visual module 132 is slidably disposed above the turntable 121 via the first driving device 133, which is configured to move along the X-axis. For example, the first driving device 133 can be configured as a linear guide module, a ball screw module, a linear motor module, or other linear moving device, which is not specifically limited here. The second visual module 132 has a shooting position and an intermittent position along the X-axis in the main body 1 of the equipment. The shooting position corresponds to the workpiece position at the transfer station W3, and the intermittent position... Away from the turntable 121, the second vision module 132 is driven by the first drive device 133 to reciprocate between the shooting position and the intermittent position. The shooting position can be adjusted according to the actual position of the workpiece to be printed. In practical applications, the surface of the workpiece to be printed faces upward and is opposite to the shooting end of the second vision module 132. Before printing, the second vision module 132 can be driven by the first drive device 133 to move from the intermittent position to the shooting position, and the second vision module 132 can be used to visually position the surface of the workpiece to be printed, so as to accurately adjust the printing posture parameters such as the moving direction, moving distance, and rotation center position of the printing mechanism 11. After shooting, the second vision module 132 is driven by the first drive device 133 to move from the shooting position to the intermittent position to reset the second vision module 132, so as to provide sufficient space for the printing operation of the printing mechanism 11, avoid mechanical interference or collision between the second vision module 132 and the printing mechanism 11, and ensure the safe operation of the equipment and the normal operation of the printing process.

[0029] Optionally, the second vision module 132 includes at least one vision component 1321, which includes a camera 13211 and a light source 13212. The shooting end of the second vision module 132 is disposed on the camera 13211, and the light source 13212 is disposed below the camera 13211. The first driving device 133 and the second vision module 132 are connected by a connecting bracket 134, and the camera 13211 and the light source 13212 are disposed opposite to each other on the connecting bracket 134. Specifically, the connecting bracket 134 is vertically disposed below the first driving device 133, and the camera 13211 and the light source 13212 are disposed vertically at intervals on the connecting bracket 134. On the same side of 34, and with light source 13212 close to workpiece stage 122, light source 13212 has a hollow channel 2 inside, and the shooting end of camera 13211 is opposite to the hollow channel 2, so that the shooting end of camera 13211 can be opposite to the surface of the workpiece to be transferred. When the second vision module 132 is running, light source 13212 and camera 13211 cooperate to capture the image of the surface of the workpiece to be transferred. The light source 13212 can be constructed as a ring-shaped light source to improve the uniformity of the shooting light source, eliminate shadows on the workpiece, improve image quality, and thus improve image positioning accuracy. In this embodiment, camera 13211 can be configured as a CCD camera or a CMOS camera, which is not specifically limited here.

[0030] As a third optional implementation of the visual positioning mechanism 13 in this solution, one and two of the above-mentioned implementations of the visual positioning mechanism 13 can be combined and configured in a pad printing equipment. Specifically, the precise positioning of the workpiece to be pad printed is achieved through the coordinated operation of the first visual module 131 and the second visual module 132. In the actual processing, the first visual module 131 is fixedly set at the pad printing station W3. When the turntable 121 rotates the workpiece to be pad printed to the pad printing station W3, the first visual module 131 can first perform initial visual positioning of the workpiece to be pad printed at the pad printing station W3, thereby achieving the positioning of the pad printing station W3 and the zeroing of the visual positioning. The displacement parameters and rotation center position of the output end of the pad printing mechanism 11 are adjusted by using the image of the workpiece positioning surface captured by the first vision module 131. This solves the problem that it takes a long time to re-establish the visual positioning of the workpiece when switching between different workpieces in traditional pad printing equipment, thus improving the visual positioning efficiency and positioning accuracy in the pad printing process. After the first vision module 131 completes the initial visual positioning, the second vision module 132 can be driven to move to the shooting position by the first driving device 133. The second vision module 132 performs secondary visual positioning on the workpiece to be printed, so as to adjust the final printing point of the output end of the pad printing mechanism 11.

[0031] Optionally, the third optional embodiment of the aforementioned visual positioning mechanism 13 can be adapted to a processing scheme of simultaneous pad printing of multiple workpieces. For example, any workpiece stage 122 in the turntable 121 has four first workpiece placement positions 120 arranged side by side, and each first workpiece placement position 120 respectively places workpiece a, workpiece b, workpiece c, and workpiece d. As the four process stations of feeding station W1, dust removal station W2, pad printing station W3, and drying station W4 rotate sequentially, pad printing of four workpieces can be achieved at one time, greatly improving the efficiency of pad printing. In the third optional embodiment of the aforementioned visual positioning mechanism 13, such as Figure 2 and Figure 5 As shown, the first vision module 131 includes two sets of adjacent vision components 1311. One vision component 1311 is used to position workpiece a, and the other vision component 1311 can be used to position one of workpieces b, c, and d. In practical applications, the other vision component 1311 is preferably used to position workpiece c. The second vision module 132 includes two sets of adjacent and spaced vision components 1321. The two vision components 1321 are respectively connected to the first driving device 133. For the two second vision modules 132, workpieces a and c are in the first positioning step, and workpieces b and d are in the second positioning step. In practical applications, the two vision components 1311 can be used to perform initial visual positioning of workpieces a to d to control and adjust the printing posture of the output end of the printing mechanism 11 and control the printing mechanism 11 to take ink from the ink supply mechanism 10. Subsequently, through Two vision components 1321 perform a first positioning step to locate workpieces a and c, thereby controlling the output end of the pad printing mechanism 11 to move to the pad printing station W3 to perform pad printing on workpieces a and c. After the pad printing is completed, the pad printing mechanism 11 moves in the opposite direction to the ink supply mechanism 10 for cleaning. Subsequently, the two vision components 1321 perform a second positioning step to locate workpieces b and d, and control the pad printing mechanism 11 to repeat the above-mentioned pad printing and cleaning actions, thereby realizing the pad printing operation at one workpiece stage 122, which greatly improves the pad printing efficiency. Moreover, the zeroing and positioning of a single workpiece stage 122 by the first vision module 131 can serve as the basis for the pad printing adjustment of the second vision module 132 in the above-mentioned first and second positioning steps, avoiding the problem of re-visual positioning after switching workpieces and improving the visual positioning efficiency. In addition, in the above embodiment, the output end of the pad printing mechanism 11 can be set to two.

[0032] Figure 2 and Figure 6An optional embodiment of the pad printing mechanism 11 of this solution is shown. The pad printing mechanism 11 includes at least one pad printing head 110, a second driving device 111 connected to the pad printing head 110, and a rotating device 112 disposed between the second driving device 111 and the pad printing head 110. The second driving device 111 drives the pad printing head 110 to move between the ink supply mechanism 10 and the first workpiece placement position 120 at the pad printing station W3. The second driving device 111 includes a first moving component 1111 disposed on the device body 1 and a second moving component 1112 connected to the first moving component 1111. The moving directions of component 1111 and the second moving component 1112 are perpendicular, and the rotating device 112 is located between the second moving component 1112 and the pad printing head 110. Specifically, the moving direction of the first moving component 1111 is parallel to the moving direction of the first driving device 133, and the moving direction of the second moving component 1112 is perpendicular to the moving directions of the first moving component 1111 and the first driving device 133. The first moving component 1111 can be configured as an X-axis moving component, and the second moving component 1112 can be configured as a Z-axis moving component. The second moving component 1112 is located below the first moving component 1111, and the pad printing head 110 is connected via the rotating device. 112 is located at the lower part of the second moving component 1112; after visual positioning is completed, the pad printing mechanism 11 operates. At this time, the first moving component 1111 drives the pad printing head 110 from the ink-taking position of the ink supply mechanism 10 to the pad printing station W3. At the same time, the printing surface of the pad printing head 110 is aligned with the surface to be printed on the workpiece. The second moving component 1112 drives the moving head down to contact the workpiece to complete the pad printing operation. Subsequently, the pad printing head 110 can be moved up by the second moving component 1112 and reset to the cleaning position of the ink supply mechanism 10 by the first moving component 1111 for cleaning, and then the next pad printing operation is repeated. It should also be noted that the pad printing adhesive... The head 110 can be understood as the output end of the pad printing mechanism 11. The pad printing head 110 can be set according to the number of vision components 1321 in the second vision module 132 or according to the number of first workpiece placement positions 120 in the workpiece stage 122. In this embodiment, there can be two pad printing heads 110, which are arranged at intervals. In actual application, after the second vision module 132 completes the first positioning step, the two pad printing heads 110 can perform the first pad printing step corresponding to workpiece a and workpiece c; after the second vision module 132 completes the second positioning step, the two pad printing heads 110 can perform the second pad printing step corresponding to workpiece b and workpiece d.

[0033] Optionally, to further improve the structural compactness of the pad printing equipment, the main body 1 of the equipment is provided with a first mounting bracket 101 arranged along the X-axis. The inner side of the first mounting bracket 101 is provided with a clearance cavity extending along the Z-axis. The clearance cavity extends along the X-axis. The first driving device 133 includes a first guide rail 1331 and a second guide rail 1332, and a first sliding device 1333 slidably connected to the first guide rail 1331 and the second guide rail 1332. The first guide rail 1331 and the second guide rail 1332 are respectively located at the lower part of the first mounting bracket 101 and on opposite sides of the clearance cavity. The second visual module 132 is slidably connected to the first guide rail 1331 and the second guide rail 1332 via the first sliding device 1333. The first moving component 1111 includes a third guide rail 11111 and a fourth guide rail 11112, and a second... The sliding device 11113, the third guide rail 11111, and the fourth guide rail 11112 are respectively located on the upper part of the first assembly bracket 101 and on opposite sides of the relief cavity. The second moving component 1112 is connected to the second sliding device 11113 and passes through the relief cavity to connect with the moving rubber head. Through the above arrangement, the guide rail structures of the first driving device 133 and the first moving component 1111 are integrated on the same first assembly bracket 101, which further improves the structural compactness of the pad printing equipment. Since the operation steps of the second vision module 132 and the operation steps of the pad printing mechanism 11 have a sequential order, the structural design of the first driving device 133 and the first moving component 1111 will not interfere with each other. While realizing the full automation of the pad printing process, it can improve the integration and compactness of the internal structure of the pad printing equipment, reduce the size of the equipment, and facilitate its widespread use.

[0034] Optionally, in the first assembly bracket 101, the ink-taking position and the printing position of the pad printing mechanism 11 are aligned with the shooting position and the intermittent position of the second vision module 132. The shooting position of the second vision module 132 coincides with the printing position of the pad printing mechanism 11 and can be adjusted according to the position of the workpiece to be printed. The intermittent position of the second vision module 132 is located away from the ink-taking position along the X-axis. Furthermore, the ink-taking and printing actions of the pad printing head 110 can be configured to move further along the Z-axis at the ink-taking position and the printing position, respectively. Through the above configuration, the displacement control of the second vision module 132 and the pad printing mechanism 11 can be simplified, reducing the computational burden on the pad printing equipment control system, improving the operating efficiency of the second vision module 132 and the pad printing mechanism 11, and shortening the travel distance of the second vision module 132 and the pad printing mechanism 11, thereby improving the pad printing processing efficiency.

[0035] As another optional embodiment of the pad printing mechanism 11 of this solution, the pad printing mechanism 11 further includes a fine-tuning drive device disposed between the second driving device 111 and the rotating device 112. The fine-tuning drive device is correspondingly arranged with respect to the pad printing head 110. The fine-tuning drive device includes a third moving component with respect to the second moving component 1112 and a fourth moving component disposed between the third moving component and the rotating device 112. The moving directions of the third moving component and the fourth moving component are perpendicular to each other. Specifically, the rotating device 112 and the fine-tuning drive device are arranged one-to-one with the pad printing head 110. The fine-tuning drive device is used to independently control the pad printing position of a single pad printing head 110 on the X-axis and Y-axis. One of the third moving component and the fourth moving component is set as the X-axis moving component and the other is set as the Y-axis moving component. By setting the fine-tuning drive device to make small-range fine adjustments to the pad printing position of the pad printing head 110, the moving accuracy of the pad printing mechanism 11 can be further improved, and the offset problem of the pad printing head 110 caused by positioning error or mechanical error can be reduced.

[0036] Figures 2 to 5 An optional embodiment of the multi-station turntable mechanism 12 of this solution is shown. Each of the workpiece platforms 122 includes at least one clamping assembly 1221 for fixing the workpiece. The clamping assembly 1221 includes a first clamping part 12211 and a second clamping part 12212 disposed on the turntable 121. A first workpiece placement position 120 can be formed between the first clamping part 12211 and the second clamping part 12212. The first clamping part 12211 can move closer to or further away from the second clamping part 12212 to clamp or release the workpiece. Furthermore, the turntable 121 is provided with a shooting channel corresponding to the visual positioning mechanism 13, and the shooting channel is configured one-to-one with the first workpiece placement position 120. Specifically, the first… The two clamping parts 12212 at least partially form a base for placing a workpiece. The workpiece can be placed on the base, and the first clamping part 12211 moves closer to or away from the second clamping part 12212 to clamp or release the workpiece. When the first clamping part 12211 moves closer to the second clamping part 12212, a first workpiece placement position 120 for fixing the workpiece can be formed between the first clamping part 12211 and the second clamping part 12212. In this embodiment, by providing a clamping part that moves on one side in the above-mentioned clamping assembly 1221, the displacement range of the clamping assembly 1221 can be reduced, the operating efficiency of the clamping assembly 1221 can be improved, and the size of the equipment can be reduced. It is especially suitable for the production of small, flat workpieces such as shoe label pad printing.

[0037] Furthermore, to ensure the normal operation of the visual positioning module, the turntable 121 is provided with a shooting channel corresponding to the visual positioning mechanism 13. The shooting channel is configured one-to-one with the first workpiece placement position 120. Specifically, the shooting channel includes a first shooting sub-channel located at the lower part of the first workpiece placement position 120 and corresponding to the shooting end of the first visual module 131, and a second shooting sub-channel located at the upper part of the first workpiece placement position 120 and corresponding to the shooting end of the second visual module 132. The first shooting sub-channel passes through the workpiece stage 122 and the turntable 121 along the Z-axis direction. To avoid obstruction of the first shooting sub-channel, and to ensure that the first shooting sub-channel corresponds one-to-one with the first workpiece placement position 120, the second shooting sub-channel can be naturally formed by the internal space above the first workpiece placement position 120 in the main body of the device 1, without the need for additional channels; it should also be noted that the first shooting sub-channel and the second shooting sub-channel can be set accordingly depending on the specific visual positioning method used in the pad printing device, which may be the first vision module 131 or the second vision module 132, or a combination of the first vision module 131 and the second vision module 132. No specific limitation is made here.

[0038] Furthermore, the pad printing equipment also includes a third driving device 123 disposed on the turntable 121 and near the center of the turntable 121. The third driving device 123 is connected to the first clamping part 12211 in each of the workpiece stages 122, and the second clamping part 12212 in each of the workpiece stages 122 is close to the outer edge of the turntable 121. The third driving device 123 drives the first clamping part 12211 to move closer to or away from the second clamping part 12212. Specifically, the third driving device 123 is used to drive the first clamping part 12211 to move closer to or away from the second clamping part 12212. The first clamping part 12211 moves linearly reciprocally relative to the second clamping part 12212. The third driving device 123 can be configured as a pneumatic driving device. In this embodiment, the workpiece platform 122 can be set according to the number of different process stations. For example, the process stations in this solution include a feeding station W1, a dust removal station W2, a pad printing station W3, and a drying station W4. There are four sets of workpiece platforms 122, and four first workpiece placement positions 120 can be set in any workpiece platform 122. The front and rear sides of any first workpiece placement position 120 are provided with the first... Clamping part 12211 and second clamping part 12212, wherein each second clamping part 12212 can be integrally or separately assembled on the turntable 121, and each first clamping part 12211 can be integrally or separately connected to the third driving device 123. It should be noted that the moving direction of the first clamping part 12211 is parallel to the central axis of the turntable 121. Further, the third driving device 123 includes a main driving source 1231 and a third sliding device 1232 connected to the main driving source 1231. The first clamping part 12211 is connected to the fourth clamping part 12211 to drive the fourth clamping part 12211 to move synchronously, ensuring synchronous clamping of multiple workpieces and thus improving loading and unloading efficiency. Secondly, by setting multiple sets of workpiece carriers 122 corresponding to the number of process stations, it is possible to realize that when the turntable 121 rotates once, a single workpiece carrier 122 can complete the rotation between the entire process stations of loading, dust removal, positioning and pad printing, drying and unloading, which enhances the continuity of different processes of pad printing equipment and the consistency of multi-workpiece processing, and greatly improves the efficiency of pad printing processing.

[0039] Figure 2 , 4 and Figure 7This illustrates another optional embodiment of the pad printing equipment of this solution. The pad printing equipment further includes a material hopper 14 disposed on one side of the multi-station turntable mechanism 12 and the ink supply mechanism 10, and a feeding mechanism 15 disposed between the material hopper 14 and the multi-station turntable mechanism 12. The material hopper 14 includes at least one material tray 141, on which a plurality of arranged second workpiece placement positions 142 are provided. The feeding mechanism 15 is movable between the second workpiece placement positions 142 and the first workpiece placement position 120 located at the feeding station W1 to transport workpieces. Specifically, the multi-station turntable mechanism 12, the ink supply mechanism 10, and the material hopper 14 are arranged adjacent to each other, and the feeding mechanism 15 and the pad printing machine are connected. The structure 11 and the second vision module 132 are respectively located above the multi-station turntable mechanism 12, the ink supply mechanism 10 and the material bin 14. The feeding mechanism 15 can move between the material bin 14 and the multi-station turntable mechanism 12 to realize the loading and unloading of workpieces. The pad printing mechanism 11 can move between the ink supply mechanism 10 and the multi-station turntable mechanism 12 to realize the ink picking, pad printing and cleaning of the pad printing head 110. The second vision module 132 can move above the turntable 121 to approach or move away from the pad printing station W3 to realize the visual positioning of the workpiece to be pad printed before pad printing. This realizes the full automation of the pad printing process, while improving the compactness of the equipment structure, reducing the size of the equipment, and simplifying the conveying path of the workpiece.

[0040] Further optional, such as Figure 4As shown, the silo 14 includes a raw material area 1401, a transplanting area 1402, and a finished product area 1403, as well as a tray 141 translation device disposed between the raw material area 1401, the transplanting area 1402, and the finished product area 1403. The tray 141 translation device is used to transport trays 141 between the raw material area 1401, the transplanting area 1402, and the finished product area 1403. The raw material area 1401 includes a first lifting bracket 14011 and a first lifting device. Multiple trays 141 are stacked in the first lifting bracket 14011. The lifting device is used to drive the material tray 141 in the raw material area 1401 to move down along the first lifting bracket 14011. The lowest material tray 141 is transported from the raw material area 1401 to the transfer area 1402 by the material tray 141 translation device. The transfer area 1402 corresponds to the feeding station W1 in the turntable 121. The transfer area 1402 is used to place a single material tray 141 for the feeding mechanism 15 to transport the workpiece to be transferred to the empty first workpiece placement position 120, and for the feeding mechanism 15 to transport the finished workpiece to the empty second workpiece. The placement position is 142; the finished product area 1403 includes a second lifting bracket 14031 and a second lifting device. The material tray 141 in the transplanting area 1402 is moved to the lowest position of the second lifting bracket 14031 by the material tray 141 translation device, and the material tray 141 is driven to move upward along the second lifting bracket 14031 by the second lifting device; in addition, any material tray 141 is sequentially transported between the raw material area 1401, the transplanting area 1402 and the finished product area 1403, wherein the material tray 141 in the raw material area 1401 is used for storage. The workpiece to be transferred is stored in the tray 141 in the finished product area 1403, and the tray 141 in the transfer area 1402 can store both the workpiece to be transferred and the finished workpiece. It should also be noted that the first lifting bracket 14011 and the second lifting bracket 14031, the first lifting device and the second lifting device have similar structures and can be set with reference to the stacked lifting hopper 14 in the prior art. Furthermore, the translation device of the tray 141 can refer to the conveyor belt translation device in the prior art, etc., and is not specifically limited here.

[0041] Optionally, the raw material area 1401 and the finished product area 1403 also include a first tray separating device and a second tray separating device, respectively. The first tray separating device is used to support and fix other trays 141 in the raw material area 1401 when the tray 141 moves from the raw material area 1401 to the transplanting area 1402 via the tray 141 translation device, thereby separating the lowest tray 141 in the raw material area 1401 from the other trays 141 above it. The second tray separating device is used to support and fix other trays 141 in the finished product area 1403 when the tray 141 moves from the transplanting area 1402 to the finished product area 1403 via the tray 141 translation device. By setting the first tray separating device and the second tray separating device, the smooth transport of the tray 141 between the raw material area 1401, the transplanting area 1402 and the finished product area 1403 is ensured.

[0042] Figure 7 An optional embodiment of the feeding mechanism 15 of this solution is shown. The feeding mechanism 15 includes a fourth driving device 151 disposed on the main body 1 of the equipment and a gripper device 152 connected to the fourth driving device 151. The gripper device 152 includes a front row gripper module 1521 and a rear row gripper module 1522 arranged front and rear. Both the front row gripper module 1521 and the rear row gripper module 1522 include at least one gripper assembly 15201. The gripper assemblies 15201 in the front row gripper module 1521 and the rear row gripper module 1522 correspond to the first workpiece placement position 120 respectively. Specifically, the fourth drive device 151 drives the gripper device 152 to move along the Y-axis and / or Z-axis, so as to realize the gripper device 152 transporting the workpiece between the second workpiece placement position 142 and the first workpiece placement position 120 at the feeding station W1. Furthermore, the gripper device 152 is equipped with two rows of gripper modules arranged in parallel front and rear. Each row of gripper modules includes several gripper assemblies 15201. For example, any row of gripper modules includes four gripper assemblies 15201. Each gripper assembly 15201 can open and close relative to each other to pick up and put down the workpiece. With the above arrangement, during the loading and unloading process, the front row of gripper modules 1521 can be used first. The workpiece to be transferred is picked up from the transfer area 1402. Then, the feeding mechanism 15 moves to the feeding station W1 and picks up the finished workpiece from the workpiece platform 122 through the rear gripper module 1522. Next, the workpiece to be transferred is placed at the first workpiece placement position 120 by the front gripper module 1521, which is loaded with the workpiece to be transferred. Then, the workpiece to be transferred is rotated to the next station by the turntable 121, while the feeding mechanism 15 places the finished workpiece at the second workpiece placement position 142. In addition, the front gripper module 1521 and the rear gripper module 1522 can also sequentially pick up the workpiece to be transferred in the transfer area 1402. The actions of placing the workpiece and the finished workpiece; In this embodiment, by setting two rows of gripper modules in the gripper device 152, the conveying of the workpiece to be printed and the finished workpiece can be realized in the same clamping step. That is, the transfer of the workpiece to be printed and the finished workpiece can be realized for both the workpiece platform 122 and the transfer area 1402. The integrated setting of loading and unloading in the pad printing equipment is realized through a feeding mechanism 15, which improves the structural compactness of the equipment, helps to reduce the size of the equipment, and improves the conveying efficiency of the workpiece. In addition, it should be noted that the front row gripper module 1521 and the rear row gripper module 1522 have similar structures, which helps to reduce the equipment cost.

[0043] Furthermore, the fourth driving device 151 includes a fifth moving component 1511 disposed on the device body 1 and a sixth moving component 1512 disposed between the fifth moving component 1511 and the gripper device 152. The moving directions of the fifth moving component 1511 and the sixth moving component 1512 are perpendicular to each other. Specifically, the device body 1 is provided with a second assembly bracket 102 arranged along the Y-axis. The fifth moving component 1511 is connected to the second assembly bracket 102. The fifth moving component 1511 can be configured as a Y-axis moving component, and the sixth moving component 1512... It can be configured as a Z-axis moving component; furthermore, the second assembly bracket 102 can be constructed to be similar to the first device bracket, and the fifth moving component 1511 is structurally similar to the first moving component 1111 and the first driving device 133, but the moving direction of the fifth moving component 1511 is perpendicular to the moving direction of the first moving component 1111 and the first driving device 133. The fifth moving component 1511 can be constructed to slide on the lower part of the second device bracket, or the fifth moving component 1511 can be constructed to slide through the second assembly bracket 102, without specific limitation here.

[0044] Figure 8 and Figure 9An optional embodiment of the gripper assembly 15201 of this solution is shown. Each gripper assembly 15201 includes a third clamping portion 152011 and a fourth clamping portion 152012 that can open and close relative to each other. The second workpiece placement position 142 can be formed between the third clamping portion 152011 and the fourth clamping portion 152012. A first anti-detachment pad 152013 and a second anti-detachment pad are respectively provided on the inner sides of the third clamping portion 152011 and the fourth clamping portion 152012. 152014, the clamping surfaces of the first anti-detachment pad 152013 and the second anti-detachment pad 152014 are each provided with a plurality of vertically arranged transverse anti-detachment grooves 152015, and the clamping surfaces of the first anti-detachment pad 152013 and the second anti-detachment pad 152014 are respectively adapted to the outer contour of the workpiece; specifically, the third clamping part 152011 and the fourth clamping part 152012 can be configured to open and close relative to each other, or can be configured to open and close relative to each other. In this embodiment, the third clamping part 152011 and the fourth clamping part 152012 are preferably configured to open and close relative to each other. The clamping parts 152011 and 152012 are configured to open and close relative to each other to simplify the structure of the gripper assembly 15201. Correspondingly, notches are provided on both sides of any first workpiece placement position 120 on the workpiece stage 122 and on both sides of any second workpiece placement position 140 in the tray 141. These notches are used to make way for the third clamping parts 152011 and 152012 to ensure smooth transfer of the workpiece. In addition, by providing opposing first anti-detachment pads 152013 and second anti-detachment pads 152014 on the inner sides of the third clamping parts 152011 and 152012, and by providing transverse anti-slip textures on the first anti-detachment pads 152013 and 152014, the combination of multiple transverse anti-slip textures forms a clamping surface with a concave-convex wave shape, which can improve the gripping force of the gripper assembly 15201 on the workpiece and the stability of the workpiece transport, effectively prevent the workpiece from falling, and thus improve the efficiency of pad printing.

[0045] Further optional, such as Figure 9 As shown, the first anti-detachment pad 152013 and the second anti-detachment pad 152014 have similar structures. The second anti-detachment pad 152014 will be described below. Specifically, the first anti-detachment pad 152013 is provided with a clamping surface. The clamping surface is provided with a first limiting part 152016 and a second limiting part 152017 that are opposite each other. The first limiting part 152016 and the second limiting part 152017 are respectively inclined from the outer edge of the clamping surface toward its inner side to form a concave clamping surface. The concave position in the clamping surface extends outward in the direction corresponding to the mutually perpendicular first central axis and the second central axis. The first limiting part 152016 and the second limiting part 152017 are respectively located on at least one side of the extension direction of the concave position.

[0046] Optionally, the aforementioned anti-slip pad can be constructed as a symmetrical structure such as a circle or rectangle, without specific limitations here.

[0047] Optionally, the first anti-detachment pad 152013 and the second anti-detachment pad 152014 are made of flexible materials to avoid damage to the workpiece. The flexible materials include rubber, silicone, etc., which are not specifically limited here.

[0048] As another optional embodiment of the pad printing equipment in this solution, the pad printing equipment also includes a humidification mechanism disposed in the main body 1 of the equipment. The humidification mechanism humidifies and moisturizes the internal environment of the equipment to prevent the ink from drying out and causing a decrease in pad printing quality.

[0049] Example 2: like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention also provides a control method for an automatic pad printing device, the control method being implemented using the pad printing device described above, and the control method comprising at least the following steps: S100. The workpiece to be transferred is conveyed to the workpiece platform 122 located at the feeding station W1, and the workpiece to be transferred is fixed by the workpiece platform 122. Specifically, the gripper device 152 moves along the Y-axis and Z-axis directions in the main body of the equipment 1 along the transfer area 1402 of the material bin 14 and the workpiece platform 122 at the feeding station W1, so as to realize the loading and unloading of the workpiece to be transferred and the finished workpiece between the material tray 141 of the transfer area 1402 and the workpiece platform 122 of the multi-station turntable mechanism 12.

[0050] Furthermore, the gripper device 152 includes a front row gripper module 1521 and a rear row gripper module 1522 arranged in parallel. For example, during initial loading, the gripper device 152 moves the workpiece to be transferred to the transfer area 1402, and the front row gripper module 1521 and the rear row gripper module 1522 sequentially grip the workpieces to be transferred at different horizontal positions. Subsequently, the gripper device 152 can move the workpieces to be transferred to the workpiece platform 122 of the turntable 121. The workpieces to be transferred in the front gripper module 1521 and the rear gripper module 1522 can be placed on different workpiece carriers 122 by rotating the turntable 121. During continuous transfer printing, the workpiece to be transferred can be picked up from the transfer area 1402 by the front gripper module 1521, and then moved to the feeding station W1 by the gripper device 152. The finished workpiece is then picked up from the workpiece carrier 122 by the rear gripper module 1522. The workpiece to be transferred is placed at the first workpiece placement position 120 by the front gripper module 1521 containing the workpiece to be transferred. Then, the workpiece to be transferred is rotated to the dust removal station W2 by the turntable 121. At the same time, the finished workpiece is placed on the material tray 141 of the transfer area 1402 by the rear gripper module 1522 containing the finished workpiece. When the material tray 141 of the transfer area 1402 is full of finished workpieces, the transfer area 1402 is moved by the material tray 141 translation device. The tray 141 containing finished workpieces is transferred to the finished product area 1403, and the full tray 141 in the raw material area 1401 is transferred to the transfer area 1402 for continuous loading and unloading and pad printing. It should also be noted that during the feeding process, the operating sequence of the front gripper module 1521 and the rear gripper module 1522, as well as the workpiece clamping sequence in the feeding station W1 and the transfer area 1402, can be adjusted according to the actual situation, and no specific limitation is made here.

[0051] S200: Rotate the workpiece to be printed to the dust removal station W2 via turntable 121 to remove dust from the workpiece. Specifically, Figure 10Another optional embodiment of the pad printing equipment of this solution is shown. The pad printing equipment further includes a dust removal mechanism 17 corresponding to the dust removal station W2. The dust removal mechanism 17 includes a dust removal bracket 171 located outside the turntable 121, at least one nozzle 172 communicating with the dust removal bracket 171, and an air supply device communicating with each of the nozzles 172. The nozzles 172 are arranged one-to-one with the first workpiece placement position 120 in any workpiece stage 122. The dust removal bracket 171 extends at least partially above the turntable 121. The nozzles 172 are located on the top of the dust removal bracket 171 and face the first workpiece placement position 120. When the turntable 121 rotates the workpiece stage 122 loaded with the workpiece to be transferred to the dust removal station W2, air is blown onto the workpiece surface to be transferred through the nozzles 172 to perform dust removal and cleaning operations, which is beneficial to improving the quality of pad printing. Optionally, the air supply device can be set as a negative ion compressor to supply air to the nozzles 172.

[0052] S300. The dust-removed workpiece to be transferred is rotated to the transfer station W3 by the turntable 121. The position of the workpiece to be transferred is located by the vision positioning mechanism 13 to adjust the transfer posture of the transfer mechanism 11 and locate the transfer position of the transfer mechanism 11, wherein the transfer position corresponds to the workpiece to be transferred. Specifically, after the turntable 121 rotates the dust-removed workpiece to the pad printing station W3, the first vision positioning module takes a picture from below the workpiece to be pad printed to position it. The position and rotation center of the pad printing head 110 are controlled and adjusted by the second drive device 111 and the rotation device 112, or by the fine-tuning drive device and the rotation device 112. Then, the second vision module 132 moves to the top of the pad printing station W3 to perform the first positioning step and / or the second positioning step to position and prepare the surface of the workpiece to be pad printed.

[0053] S400: The ink is taken from the ink supply mechanism 10 by the pad printing mechanism 11 and moved to the workpiece to be printed for pad printing operation. Specifically, the ink supply mechanism 10 includes an ink container area 161, an ink dispensing area 162, and a cleaning area 163. The cleaning area 163 is located on one side of the ink dispensing area 162, and the ink dispensing area 162 is higher than the cleaning area 163. The ink container area 161 is slidably disposed above the ink dispensing area 162. By moving the ink container area 161 and the ink dispensing area 162 to overlap, the ink container area 161 can spray ink onto the ink dispensing area 162 with a preset pattern, preparing for the pad printing head 110 to pick up ink. In practical applications, after the first visual positioning module has finished operating, The position and rotation center of the pad printing head 110 can be controlled and adjusted by the second driving device 111 and the rotating device 112, or by the fine-tuning driving device and the rotating device 112. Simultaneously, the ink cup area 161 moves to overlap with the ink collection area 162 for ink ejection. After ink ejection, the ink cup area 161 separates and slides relative to the ink collection area 162. At this time, the pad printing head 110 moves downward to collect ink. After the first positioning step is completed by the second vision module 132, the pad printing head 110 moves to the pad printing station W3 and moves towards the corresponding... The workpiece is transferred to the printing surface to achieve the printing operation. After one transfer is completed, the printing head 110 moves along the X-axis to above the ink supply mechanism 10. The printing head 110 moves down and first cleans in the cleaning area 163, and then picks up ink a second time in the ink pick-up area 162. After the second vision module 132 completes the second positioning step, the above printing operation steps are repeated. Secondly, when the printing head 110 performs the first printing, it can slide from the ink cup area 161 to the ink pick-up area 162 to overlap for a new ink spray, which helps to shorten the waiting time between processes and improve the efficiency of printing. In addition, the printing equipment also includes a fourth sliding device connected to the ink supply mechanism 10. The ink supply mechanism 10 can move along the Y-axis as a whole through the fourth sliding device to compensate for the displacement dimension and displacement range of the printing mechanism 11. This helps to simplify the displacement control of the printing mechanism 11, further improves the structural compactness of the equipment, and enhances the coordination between the mechanisms, thereby improving the automation and flexibility of the printing equipment.

[0054] In practical applications, the pad printing head 110 in the pad printing equipment has a cleaning position corresponding to the cleaning area 163, an ink-taking position corresponding to the ink-taking area 162, and a printing position corresponding to the printing station W3, all of which are on the same straight line (i.e., the same X-axis). The cleaning position and the ink-taking position coincide. The ink supply mechanism 10 is driven to move along the Y-axis by the fourth sliding device to switch the positions of the cleaning area 163 and the ink-taking area 162 relative to the printing mechanism 11, thereby realizing the switching of the cleaning position and the ink-taking position of the pad printing head 110, while keeping the printing mechanism 11 stationary. The printing mechanism 11 is driven to move between the ink-taking position and the printing position by the first sliding device 1333. Optionally, the operation control of each mechanism in the printing equipment can be controlled by a CNC system. Through the above settings, the motion control of the printing mechanism 11 is greatly simplified, which is conducive to reducing the size of the printing equipment.

[0055] Optionally, the ink cup area 161 can be set with reference to the ink cup device in existing pad printing equipment. The cleaning area 163 is provided with axially rotatable rollers on both sides. A plastic strip is wound on the two rollers to clean the pad printing head 110. One of the rollers can be set as the supply roller of the plastic strip and the other roller can be set as the recycling roller of the plastic strip. No specific limitation is made here.

[0056] S500: Rotate the pad-printed workpiece to the drying station W4 via turntable 121 and wait for the preset drying time. Specifically, when the workpiece after pad printing rotates to the drying station W4, it can be dried naturally or a drying device can be installed at the drying station W4 to improve drying efficiency; furthermore, the preset drying time is equal to the interval between the front and back rotations of the turntable 121.

[0057] S600: The dried workpiece is rotated to the feeding station W1 via turntable 121 for unloading; Specifically, the material feeding operation is carried out through the feeding mechanism 15. The specific loading and unloading process has been described in step S100 above and will not be repeated here.

[0058] The above examples are merely illustrative of the technical content of the present invention to facilitate easier understanding by the reader, but do not imply that the implementation of the present invention is limited to these examples. Any technical extensions or re-creations made based on the present invention are protected by the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the claims.

Claims

1. An automatic pad printing device, characterized in that, It includes a main body of equipment (1), and an ink supply mechanism (10), a pad printing mechanism (11), a multi-station turntable mechanism (12) and a vision positioning mechanism (13) disposed in the main body of equipment (1). The multi-station turntable mechanism (12) includes a turntable (121) and a plurality of workpiece platforms (122) arranged circumferentially on the turntable (121). The workpiece platforms (122) are provided with at least one first workpiece placement position (120). The main body of the equipment (1) has at least a feeding station (W1), a dust removal station (W2), a pad printing station (W3), and a drying station (W4) around the turntable (121). Any of the workpiece carriers (122) can be rotated to one of the feeding station (W1), the dust removal station (W2), the pad printing station (W3), and the drying station (W4) via the turntable (121). The pad printing mechanism (11) moves between the ink supply mechanism (10) and the first workpiece placement position (120) at the pad printing station (W3) to perform pad printing on the workpiece. The visual positioning mechanism (13) performs visual positioning on the first workpiece placement position (120) at the pad printing station (W3) to adjust the pad printing posture of the pad printing mechanism (11).

2. The automatic pad printing equipment as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The visual positioning mechanism (13) includes a first visual module (131) located below the turntable (121) and corresponding to the pad printing station (W3). The first visual module (131) performs visual positioning of the positioning surface of the workpiece to adjust the pad printing posture of the pad printing mechanism (11). The first vision module (131) includes at least one vision component (1311), the vision component (1311) includes a camera (13111) and a light source (13112), the light source (13112) being located above the camera (13111).

3. An automatic pad printing device as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The visual positioning mechanism (13) further includes a second visual module (132) slidably disposed above the turntable (121) and a first driving device (133) connected to the second visual module (132). The second visual module (132) performs visual positioning on the surface of the workpiece to be transferred, so as to adjust the transfer posture of the transfer mechanism (11). The first driving device (133) drives the second visual module (132) to move closer to or further away from the transfer station (W3). The second vision module (132) includes at least one vision component two (1321), the vision component two (1321) includes a camera two (13211) and a light source two (13212), the light source two (13212) is located below the camera two (13211); the first driving device (133) and the second vision module (132) are connected by a connecting bracket (134), the camera two (13211) and the light source two (13212) are disposed opposite to each other on the connecting bracket (134).

4. An automatic pad printing device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The pad printing mechanism (11) includes at least one pad printing head (110), a second drive device (111) connected to the pad printing head (110), and a rotating device (112) disposed between the second drive device (111) and the pad printing head (110). The second drive device (111) drives the pad printing head (110) to move between the ink supply mechanism (10) and the first workpiece placement position (120) of the pad printing station (W3). The second driving device (111) includes a first moving component (1111) disposed on the main body of the device (1) and a second moving component (1112) connected to the first moving component (1111). The moving directions of the first moving component (1111) and the second moving component (1112) are perpendicular to each other, and the rotating device (112) is disposed between the second moving component (1112) and the pad printing head (110).

5. An automatic pad printing device as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The pad printing mechanism (11) further includes a fine-tuning drive device disposed between the second driving device (111) and the rotating device (112). The fine-tuning drive device is disposed corresponding to the pad printing head (110). The fine-tuning drive device includes a third moving component with respect to the second moving component (1112) and a fourth moving component disposed between the third moving component and the rotating device (112). The moving directions of the third moving component and the fourth moving component are perpendicular to each other.

6. An automatic pad printing device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the workpiece stage (122) includes at least one clamping assembly (1221) for fixing the workpiece. The clamping assembly (1221) includes a first clamping part (12211) and a second clamping part (12212) disposed on the turntable (121). A first workpiece placement position (120) can be formed between the first clamping part (12211) and the second clamping part (12212). The first clamping part (12211) can move closer to or away from the second clamping part (12212) to clamp or release the workpiece. Furthermore, the turntable (121) is provided with a shooting channel corresponding to the visual positioning mechanism (13), and the shooting channel is set one-to-one with the first workpiece placement position (120).

7. An automatic pad printing device as described in claim 6, characterized in that, It also includes a third driving device (123) disposed on the turntable (121) and near the center of the turntable (121). The third driving device (123) is connected to the first clamping part (12211) in each of the workpiece platforms (122). The second clamping part (12212) in each of the workpiece platforms (122) is close to the outer edge of the turntable (121). The third driving device (123) drives the first clamping part (12211) to move closer to or away from the second clamping part (12212).

8. An automatic pad printing device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a hopper (14) located on one side of the multi-station turntable mechanism (12) and the ink supply mechanism (10), and a feeding mechanism (15) located between the hopper (14) and the multi-station turntable mechanism (12). The hopper (14) includes at least one tray (141), and the tray (141) is provided with a plurality of arranged second workpiece placement positions (142). The feeding mechanism (15) is able to move between the second workpiece placement positions (142) and the first workpiece placement position (120) located at the feeding station (W1) to transport workpieces.

9. An automatic pad printing device as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The feeding mechanism (15) includes a fourth driving device (151) disposed on the main body of the equipment (1) and a gripper device (152) connected to the fourth driving device (151). The gripper device (152) includes a front row gripper module (1521) and a rear row gripper module (1522) arranged in front and rear. Both the front row gripper module (1521) and the rear row gripper module (1522) include at least one gripper assembly (15201). The gripper assemblies (15201) in the front row gripper module (1521) and the rear row gripper module (1522) correspond to the first workpiece placement position (120) respectively. The fourth driving device (151) includes a fifth moving component (1511) disposed on the main body of the device (1) and a sixth moving component (1512) disposed between the fifth moving component (1511) and the gripper device (152). The moving directions of the fifth moving component (1511) and the sixth moving component (1512) are perpendicular to each other. Each of the gripper assemblies (15201) includes a third clamping part (152011) and a fourth clamping part (152012) that can be opened and closed relative to each other. The third clamping part (152011) and the fourth clamping part (152012) can form a second workpiece placement position (142). The inner sides of the third clamping part (152011) and the fourth clamping part (152012) are respectively provided with a first anti-detachment pad (152013) and a second anti-detachment pad (152014). The clamping surfaces of the first anti-detachment pad (152013) and the second anti-detachment pad (152014) are provided with a plurality of vertically arranged transverse anti-detachment grooves (152015). The clamping surfaces of the first anti-detachment pad (152013) and the second anti-detachment pad (152014) are respectively adapted to the outer contour of the workpiece.

10. A control method for an automatic pad printing device, characterized in that, The control method is implemented using the pad printing apparatus as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, and the control method includes at least the following steps: S100, The workpiece to be transferred is conveyed to the workpiece carrier (122) at the feeding station (W1), and the workpiece to be transferred is fixed by the workpiece carrier (122); S200: The workpiece to be printed is rotated to the dust removal station (W2) by the turntable (121) to remove dust from the workpiece; S300. The dust-removed workpiece to be transferred is rotated to the transfer station (W3) by the turntable (121). The position of the workpiece to be transferred is located by the vision positioning mechanism (13) to adjust the transfer posture of the transfer mechanism (11) and locate the transfer position of the transfer mechanism (11), wherein the transfer position corresponds to the workpiece to be transferred. S400: The ink is taken from the ink supply mechanism (10) by the pad printing mechanism (11) and moved to the workpiece to be printed for pad printing operation; S500: The printed workpiece is rotated to the drying station (W4) by the turntable (121) and waits for the preset drying time. S600: The dried workpiece is rotated to the feeding station (W1) by the turntable (121) for unloading.

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