A lens grinding device and an automatic lens loading and unloading method

Abstract

This invention discloses a lens grinding equipment and an automatic lens loading and unloading method. The equipment includes multiple grinding chambers and an automatic loading and unloading mechanism, a first robotic arm, a second robotic arm, an unprocessed material area, a finished product area, a fixed position, and a finished product waiting position. The first robotic arm is equipped with a gripper and a first suction cup. The gripper moves the unprocessed material tray from the unprocessed material area to the finished product area, and the first suction cup moves the lens to the fixed position and retrieves the finished product to the finished product tray. The second robotic arm is equipped with a second suction cup, a third suction cup, and a tilting mechanism. The second suction cup transfers the lens from the fixed position to the grinding chamber, and the third suction cup transfers the ground lens to the finished product waiting position. The tilting mechanism rotates the suction cup 180 degrees to adapt to the loading and unloading conditions of the grinding station, thereby realizing the steps of tray handling, lens loading, tilting and grinding, finished product retrieval, and tray reuse. With the two robotic arms working in parallel orthogonal space and multiple grinding chambers operating independently, the processing efficiency, positioning accuracy, and consistency are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of optical lens processing, specifically to a lens grinding device with an automatic pick-and-place mechanism and a method for automatic lens pick-and-place. Background Technology

[0002] Optical lens grinding is a crucial process in optical component manufacturing, and its quality directly affects the imaging performance of optical systems. With the rapid development of the optoelectronic industry, higher demands are being placed on the processing efficiency, precision, and automation of optical lenses. Traditional manual or semi-automatic grinding methods suffer from drawbacks such as reliance on manual operation, low efficiency, and poor consistency, making it difficult to meet the needs of large-scale, high-precision production. Therefore, the industry has gradually developed lens grinding equipment with automatic loading and unloading functions to improve the level of production automation.

[0003] There are already some publicly available solutions in the prior art involving automated lens grinding and loading / unloading devices. For example: CN207480292U discloses a "fully automated pick-and-place grinding device for grading optical lenses". This device includes a machine base, a primary grinding group, a secondary grinding group, and a pick-and-place conveyor robot, enabling graded conveying and grinding of optical lenses between coarse and fine grinding, and between the front and back sides. However, while the pick-and-place conveyor robot in this solution has a flipping function, its loading and unloading process lacks automated design for the overall movement of the tray and the organization of the finished product area. Furthermore, it lacks a coordination mechanism between fixed positions and finished product waiting positions, resulting in complex pick-and-place paths and insufficient positioning accuracy during multi-station collaborative operations, making it difficult to achieve efficient and continuous automated loading operations.

[0004] CN112658969B discloses a "quasi-spherical core precision grinding machine". This equipment includes multiple grinding stations, each equipped with a rotary disk assembly, a lifting and positioning assembly, and a swing assembly, enabling high-precision grinding of spherical lenses. However, it primarily focuses on the precision control of the grinding mechanism and does not cover functions such as automatic feeding, tray handling, and finished product sorting. Lens handling still relies on manual labor or external equipment, resulting in limited overall automation and difficulty in efficiently integrating with loading and unloading systems.

[0005] CN107486772B discloses another "fully automated pick-and-place grinding device for grading optical lenses," which further optimizes the structure of the pick-and-place conveyor robot based on CN207480292U. It includes first and second pick-and-place conveyor devices and a flipping device, and adds a predetermined position device to improve positioning accuracy. However, this solution still has the following shortcomings: it lacks a dedicated automatic transfer mechanism for the tray between the unprocessed material area and the finished product area; the first robotic arm is only used for lens handling and lacks overall tray operation capability; although the second robotic arm has a flipping function, its path scheduling between the fixed position, the grinding chamber, and the finished product waiting position is relatively complex, and the finished lenses still need to be collected and sorted manually or by additional equipment, failing to achieve fully automated closed-loop operation.

[0006] In summary, existing optical lens grinding equipment still has significant shortcomings in automatic feeding, tray handling, finished product sorting, and multi-station collaborative operation. Specifically, these shortcomings include: a lack of overall mobility for unprocessed and finished product trays; a lack of rational layout and fixed-point coordination of lens transfer paths between different stations; a lack of unified waiting positions and automatic sorting mechanisms for finished lenses; and low efficiency in the connection between loading / unloading and grinding processes, making it difficult to achieve continuous, stable, and efficient fully automated production. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present invention aims to provide a lens grinding device with an automatic pick-and-place mechanism to solve the technical problems in the prior art, such as the inability of the material tray to be automatically transferred, the unreasonable lens pick-and-place path, the lack of an automatic finished product sorting mechanism, and the low overall degree of automation.

[0008] The technical solution of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned technical problems is: a lens grinding device, comprising: The grinding equipment has multiple grinding chambers arranged side by side; An automatic pick-and-place mechanism includes a platform on which a first robotic arm, a second robotic arm, an unprocessed material area, a finished product area, a fixed position, and a finished product waiting position are arranged. The unprocessed material area is used for stacking and placing material trays; The first robotic arm is equipped with a gripper and a first suction cup. The gripper is used to move the tray of unprocessed material to the finished product area. The first suction cup is used to adsorb the lens on the tray of unprocessed material and move it to a fixed position. The second robotic arm is equipped with a second suction cup and a third suction cup, as well as an up-and-down flipping mechanism. The second suction cup is used to pick up and transfer the lens at the fixed position to the grinding chamber for grinding. The third suction cup is used to pick up and transfer the polished lens to the finished product waiting position; The up-and-down flipping mechanism is used to flip the second or third suction cup 180 degrees when switching between the fixed position or the finished product waiting position and the grinding chamber. The first suction cup is also used to pick up and transfer the lenses on the finished product waiting position to the material tray in the finished product area.

[0009] A further preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the first robotic arm is equipped with a first X-axis track, a first Y-axis track, and a first Z-axis track; The unprocessed material area, the finished product area, and the fixed point are arranged sequentially along a direction parallel to the first Y-axis track. The finished product waiting position and the fixed position are arranged in a direction parallel to the first X-axis track.

[0010] A further preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the second robotic arm is equipped with a second X-axis track, a second Y-axis track, and a second Z-axis track; The second X-axis track is aligned with the parallel direction of the multiple grinding chambers.

[0011] A further preferred embodiment of the present invention is as follows: a clamping mechanism is provided at the fixed position, the clamping mechanism includes a cylinder and a clamping plate, the cylinder drives the clamping plate to clamp the lens so that the lens is in a set position.

[0012] A further preferred embodiment of the present invention is as follows: each of the plurality of grinding chambers is equipped with an independent grinding system, and different grinding chambers can process different lenses at the same time, or process different grinding processes of the same lens.

[0013] A further preferred embodiment of the present invention is as follows: the independent grinding system includes a rotary disk assembly, a lifting and positioning assembly, and a swing assembly, and the grinding systems of each grinding chamber operate independently without interfering with each other.

[0014] A further preferred subject of the present invention: an automatic lens loading and unloading method, comprising the following steps: Step S1: The gripper of the first robotic arm moves the stacked trays in the unprocessed material area to the finished product area. The first suction cup of the first robotic arm picks up the lenses to be ground on the trays in the unprocessed material area and moves them to a fixed position. Step S2: Using the second suction cup of the second robotic arm, the lens at the fixed position is adsorbed and the up-and-down flipping mechanism is activated to flip it 180 degrees and transfer the lens to the grinding chamber for grinding. Step S3: After grinding is completed, the second or third suction cup is rotated 180 degrees by the up-and-down flipping mechanism on the second robotic arm, and the ground lens is picked up from the grinding chamber and transferred to the finished product waiting position by the third suction cup; Step S4: The first suction cup of the first robotic arm picks up the lens in the finished product waiting position and transfers it to the material tray in the finished product area, completing an automatic loading, grinding and unloading cycle of a lens.

[0015] A further preferred technical solution of the present invention is as follows: In step S1, the gripper of the first robotic arm and the first suction cup perform parallel operations, and the gripper moves the material tray and the first suction cup transfers the lens to a fixed position.

[0016] A further preferred embodiment of the present invention is as follows: In step S1, the conditions for using the gripper of the first robotic arm are as follows: (1) The unprocessed material area is stacked with multiple layers of material trays, and the finished product area is pre-placed with one material tray; (2) The material trays in the unprocessed material area are of the same specifications as those in the finished product area; (3) When the lens placement position of the uppermost tray of the unprocessed material area is empty, the gripper of the first robotic arm moves to the center of the tray, and the cylinder drives the gripper to move down to the middle of the tray. The gripper clamps, and then the cylinder retracts. The gripper picks up the empty tray and transports it to the top of the finished product area tray, stacking it on the finished product area tray. (4) The gripper operates only when the lens placement position of the uppermost tray in the unprocessed material area is empty.

[0017] A further preferred embodiment of the present invention is as follows: In step S2, the second robotic arm moves along the second X-axis track and sequentially transfers multiple lenses to multiple grinding chambers arranged side by side for grinding processing.

[0018] A further preferred technical solution of the present invention is as follows: In step S2, multiple grinding chambers work in parallel, each grinding chamber operates independently, and can process different lenses at the same time, or perform different processes such as rough grinding and fine grinding on the same lens in sequence.

[0019] A further preferred technical solution of the present invention is as follows: In step S3, the flipping action of the up-and-down flipping mechanism is not only used to switch the grinding of the front and back sides of the lens, but also to meet the requirements of the grinding chamber for the relative position of the lens and the suction cup; specifically, in the fixed position or the finished product waiting position, the lens is adsorbed below the suction cup, while in the grinding chamber, the lens needs to be located above the suction cup to match the picking and placing conditions of the grinding mechanism. Therefore, the up-and-down flipping mechanism flips the suction cup 180 degrees before or after the picking and placing operation to realize the conversion of the up-and-down position of the lens relative to the suction cup.

[0020] A further preferred technical solution of the present invention is as follows: In step S4, while the first suction cup transfers the lens on the finished product waiting position to the finished product tray, the gripper of the first robotic arm moves the next empty tray or tray to be processed in the unprocessed material area to the finished product area, thereby realizing the continuous supply and sorting of trays.

[0021] The high-precision lens concave spherical grinding equipment and method provided by this invention have the following beneficial technical effects: In this technical solution, the first robotic arm is equipped with both a gripper and a first suction cup. The gripper moves the tray from the unprocessed material area to the finished product area, while the first suction cup picks up lenses from the tray in the unprocessed material area and moves them to a fixed position. The first suction cup also picks up lenses from the finished product waiting position and transfers them to the tray in the finished product area. Thus, the first robotic arm has the dual functions of overall tray handling and precise lens placement and removal. It can move the tray as a whole, transfer lenses to fixed positions, and retrieve finished lenses back to the finished product tray, achieving a dual automated flow of trays and lenses, forming a complete closed loop. No manual intervention is required for tray handling and finished product sorting, solving the technical problems of existing technologies where trays cannot be automatically transferred and there is a lack of an automatic finished product sorting mechanism.

[0022] Meanwhile, the unprocessed material area, finished product area, fixed position and finished product waiting position are all set on the same platform. The first robotic arm and the second robotic arm work in parallel in space and are seamlessly connected in time, avoiding path intersection and waiting, improving production efficiency, and solving the technical problem of complex picking and placing paths when multiple workstations work together in the existing technology.

[0023] Furthermore, when switching between the fixed position or finished product waiting position and the grinding chamber, the up-and-down flipping mechanism rotates the second or third suction cup by 180 degrees. The core reason for this 180-degree rotation is to adapt to the pick-up and drop conditions of the grinding station. Specifically, in the fixed position or finished product waiting position, the lens is located below the suction cup, while the grinding chamber requires the lens to be located above the suction cup. The up-and-down flipping mechanism adapts to this condition, ensuring the continuity and compatibility of the automated process, without the need for manual adjustment of the lens orientation.

[0024] Moreover, the grinding equipment has multiple grinding chambers arranged side by side, each with an independent grinding system, which can process different lenses at the same time, or perform rough grinding, fine grinding and other processes on the same lens in sequence, thereby increasing the equipment's production capacity.

[0025] It should also be noted that in the technical solution, a clamping mechanism is configured at a fixed position. A cylinder drives a clamping plate to hold the lens, placing it in the set position, eliminating positional deviations, ensuring grinding consistency, reducing the defect rate, and solving the technical problem of insufficient positioning accuracy in existing technologies. Combining the above technical features, from material tray loading, lens handling, grinding, flipping and fitting to finished product collection, the entire process is completed collaboratively by the first and second robotic arms, achieving a fully automated closed loop, reducing labor costs, avoiding human error, and solving the technical problem of low overall automation in existing technologies. Attached Figure Description

[0026] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will understand that these drawings are drawn only for the purpose of explaining the preferred embodiments and therefore should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, unless specifically indicated, the drawings are only schematic representations of the composition or structure of the described objects and may contain exaggerated depictions, and the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0027] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of the lens grinding equipment. Figure 1 ; Figure 2 This is an enlarged view of a portion of the lens grinding equipment. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the first robotic arm and the material unloading area. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the grinding system of the grinding equipment; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the first robotic arm picking up material from the unprocessed material area; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the first robotic arm placing the lens at a fixed position. Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram showing how the second suction cup can adhere to the lens at a fixed position. Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the second robotic arm's flipping mechanism after it has flipped. Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the third suction cup removing the lens in the grinding chamber; Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating how the third suction cup moves the lens to the finished product waiting position. Figure 11 A schematic diagram showing the first suction cup removing a lens from the finished product waiting position; Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram showing the first suction cup moving the lens to the finished product tray. Figure 13 A schematic diagram of a gripper holding a tray for picking up unprocessed material. Figure 14 A schematic diagram showing how the gripper moves the tray to the finished product area. Detailed Implementation

[0028] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that these descriptions are merely descriptive and exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0029] It should be noted that similar labels in the following figures indicate similar items; therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it will not be further defined and explained in subsequent figures.

[0030] like Figures 1 to 4 As shown, a lens grinding equipment 100 includes: a grinding equipment having multiple grinding chambers 103 arranged side by side; an automatic pick-and-place mechanism including a platform 104, on which a first robotic arm 10, a second robotic arm 20, an unprocessed material area a1, a finished product area a2, a fixed position a3 and a finished product waiting position a4 are arranged.

[0031] The unprocessed material area a1 is used to stack and place material trays 30. Through this stacking method, the unprocessed lenses g can be stored in a centralized and orderly manner, which facilitates continuous material picking operations by the first robotic arm 10, reduces the frequency of material tray replacement, thereby improving the feeding efficiency and providing a material basis for subsequent automated circulation.

[0032] like Figures 5 to 6 As shown, the first robotic arm 10 is equipped with a gripper 11 and a first suction cup 12. Figure 12 and Figure 13 As shown, the gripper 11 is used to move the tray 30 of the unprocessed material area a1 to the finished product area a2, and the first suction cup 12 is used to adsorb the lens g on the tray 30 of the unprocessed material area and move it to a fixed position.

[0033] By integrating the gripper 11 and the first suction cup 12 onto the first robotic arm 10, the first robotic arm 10 has the dual functions of transporting the entire material tray and precisely picking up and placing the lens g. It can move the material tray 30 as a whole, transfer the lens g to the fixed position a3, and collect the finished lens g back into the material tray 30 in the finished product area a2. This achieves dual automated flow of the material tray and the lens, forming a complete closed loop. There is no need for manual intervention in the material tray transport and finished product sorting, which fundamentally solves the technical problems of the existing technology that the material tray cannot be automatically transferred and lacks an automatic finished product sorting mechanism.

[0034] like Figures 8 to 11As shown, the second robotic arm 20 is equipped with a second suction cup 21 and a third suction cup 22, as well as a vertical flipping mechanism 23. The vertical flipping mechanism 23 includes a flipping cylinder 233, a transverse connector 232 connecting the second suction cup 21 and the third suction cup 22 at both ends, and a longitudinal connector 231 for connecting the transverse connector 232 and the flipping cylinder 233.

[0035] The vertical flipping mechanism 23 drives the longitudinal connecting member 231 through the flipping cylinder 233, which in turn drives the transverse connecting member 232 and the second suction cup 21 and the third suction cup 22 at both ends to flip 180 degrees simultaneously, realizing the rapid switching of the pick-up and put-out station, avoiding empty strokes, and improving the collaborative efficiency of the two suction cups.

[0036] During operation, the second suction cup 21 is used to pick up and transfer the lens g from the fixed position a3 to the grinding chamber 103 for grinding. The third suction cup 22 is used to pick up and transfer the ground lens g to the finished product waiting position a4. Through the alternating operation of the second suction cup 21 and the third suction cup 22, the second robotic arm 20 seamlessly connects the lens picking and placing, and with the 180-degree rotation of the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23, the lens g is efficiently transferred between the fixed position a3, the grinding chamber 103 and the finished product waiting position a4.

[0037] like Figure 8 As shown, the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23 is used to flip the second suction cup 21 or the third suction cup 22 180 degrees when switching between the fixed position a3 or the finished product waiting position a4 and the grinding chamber position 103. The core reason for this flipping action is to adapt to the pick-up and drop-off conditions of different workstations: at the fixed position a3 or the finished product waiting position a4, the lens g is located below the suction cup and is picked up by the suction cup from above; while at the grinding chamber position 103, the grinding process requires the lens g to be located above the suction cup so that the grinding tool can contact the lens grinding surface from below. By flipping the up-and-down mechanism 23 180 degrees, the orientation of the lens g can be precisely switched between the pick-up position and the grinding position, adapting to the pick-up and drop-off conditions of the grinding workstation, ensuring the continuity and compatibility of the automated process, eliminating the need for manual adjustment of the lens orientation, and thus solving the technical problems of unreasonable lens pick-up and drop-off paths and low efficiency of material loading, unloading and grinding processes in the prior art.

[0038] like Figures 11 to 12 As shown, the first suction cup 12 is also used to adsorb and transfer the lens g on the finished product waiting position a4 to the material tray 30 in the finished product area a2. Thus, the first suction cup 12 undertakes the dual functions of loading the lens g and recycling the finished product. In conjunction with the material tray handling function of the gripper 11, it realizes a fully automated closed loop from raw material loading to finished product collection, reduces labor costs, avoids human damage, and solves the technical problem of low overall automation in the prior art.

[0039] The first robotic arm 10 is equipped with a first X-axis track x1, a first Y-axis track y1, and a first Z-axis track z1. The unprocessed material area a1, the finished product area a2, and the fixed position a3 are arranged sequentially along a direction parallel to the first Y-axis track y1. The finished product waiting position a4 and the fixed position a3 are arranged along a direction parallel to the first X-axis track x1. That is, the first robotic arm 10 can move along three dimensions, and the distribution of the above-mentioned areas and positions is as described above.

[0040] This layout allows the first robotic arm 10 to pick up material in the unprocessed material area a1, then sequentially pass through the fixed point a3 to release material, and the finished product area a2 to collect finished products or place empty material trays 30 along the first Y-axis track y1. The path is more direct and avoids detours. Simultaneously, the finished product waiting position a4 is arranged along the first X-axis track x1 with the fixed point a3, facilitating the first suction cup 12 to move laterally to the finished product waiting position a4 to retrieve finished products after releasing material at the fixed point a3. This spatial path is orthogonal to the longitudinal path of the second robotic arm 20. Through the rational layout of the unprocessed material area a1, the finished product area a2, the fixed point a3, and the finished product waiting position a4, the first robotic arm 10 and the second robotic arm 20 can work in parallel in space and seamlessly connect in time, avoiding path intersections and waiting times, improving production efficiency, and solving the technical problem of complex pick-and-place paths in multi-station collaborative operations in existing technologies.

[0041] The second robotic arm 20 is equipped with a second X-axis track x2, a second Y-axis track y2, and a second Z-axis track z2. The second X-axis track x2 is aligned with the parallel arrangement of multiple grinding chambers 103. That is, the second robotic arm 20 can move along three dimensions, and the distribution of the multiple grinding chambers 103 is as described above. This layout allows the second robotic arm 20 to sequentially access multiple parallel grinding chambers 103 along the second X-axis track x2. Combined with the lifting and depth movement of the second Y-axis track y2 and the second Z-axis track z2, flexible scheduling of multiple workstations is achieved, improving equipment productivity.

[0042] A clamping mechanism 40 is configured at fixed position a3. The clamping mechanism 40 includes a cylinder and a clamping plate 42. The cylinder drives the clamping plate 42 to clamp the lens, so that the lens g is in the set position. Through the clamping mechanism formed by the cylinder and the clamping plate 42, the lens g is accurately positioned and fixed at fixed position a3, eliminating the positional deviation caused by adsorption and transfer, ensuring the repeatability accuracy of the subsequent material picking by the second suction cup 21, thereby ensuring grinding consistency, reducing the defect rate, and solving the technical problem of insufficient positioning accuracy in the prior art.

[0043] In the multiple grinding chambers 103, each grinding chamber is equipped with an independent grinding system 106. Different grinding chambers can process different lenses g simultaneously, or they can process different grinding processes on the same lens g. By setting up multiple independent grinding chambers 103 in parallel, each grinding chamber 103 has an independent grinding system 106, which can process different lenses g simultaneously to increase production capacity, or perform multiple processes such as rough grinding and fine grinding on the same lens sequentially to improve processing quality, enhance equipment flexibility and production capacity, and solve the technical problem of achieving efficient and continuous automated production in the prior art.

[0044] like Figure 4 As shown, the independent grinding system 106 includes a rotary disk assembly 50, a lifting and positioning assembly 60, and a swing assembly 70. The grinding systems in each grinding chamber 103 operate independently without interference. This grinding system is not the focus of this patent and will not be described in detail. It is sufficient to know that the grinding system mainly includes the aforementioned three components for the specific grinding work on the lens g. The independent operation of the grinding system 106 in each grinding chamber 103 ensures that the start-up, shutdown, parameter adjustment, or maintenance of one chamber does not affect other chambers, guaranteeing the continuity and stability of overall production.

[0045] The grinding equipment also includes independent control panels v, each corresponding to a grinding chamber 103. Each independent control panel v is used to independently control the operating status and grinding parameters of the grinding system 106 at its corresponding grinding chamber 103. Through the one-to-one correspondence between the independent control panels v and the corresponding grinding chambers 103, operators can independently set and adjust grinding parameters (such as speed, pressure, time, etc.) and start / stop conditions for each chamber, enabling multiple grinding chambers 103 to perform different grinding processes in parallel without interfering with each other, thus improving equipment scheduling flexibility and production efficiency.

[0046] The grinding equipment 100 is also equipped with an infrared safety sensing system 105. In automatic mode, the infrared safety sensing system 105 triggers the entire machine to stop when it detects personnel entering the sensing area. This infrared safety sensing system 105 monitors the sensing area in real time during automatic operation. Once personnel are detected entering, it triggers the entire machine to stop, preventing injury to personnel from the movement of the robotic arm, improving the safety of the equipment during automatic operation, and ensuring production safety.

[0047] The gripper 11 operates only when the lens placement position of the uppermost tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 is empty. The first robotic arm 10 drives the gripper 11 to move the empty tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 to the finished product area a2. Then, the gripper 11 is driven to descend to the set height by the gripping cylinder 18, and then the gripper 11 is released, so that the empty tray 30 falls into the finished product area a2 for the lenses to be placed in after subsequent processing.

[0048] This mechanism enables precise synchronization between the material tray 30 transport action of the gripper 11 and the lens g processing rhythm, triggering a tray change only when the material tray 30 is depleted, thus avoiding unnecessary actions. Simultaneously, the empty material tray 30 is directly reused as a finished product collection tray, eliminating the need for an additional finished product tray, simplifying material management, realizing the recycling of material tray resources, and further solidifying the technical effect of dual automated flow of material trays and lenses.

[0049] The grinding chamber 103 is equipped with a lifting door c1 and an observation chamber c2; the lifting door c1 is used to shield or open the grinding chamber 103. During grinding, the lifting door c1 lowers to shield the grinding area to prevent liquid or small debris from splashing out. By raising and lowering the lifting door c1, it lowers to block the splashing of grinding fluid and debris during grinding operations, protecting the surrounding environment and keeping the equipment clean; it is raised and opened when not in operation or when maintenance is required, facilitating operation and maintenance.

[0050] The observation chamber c2 is located on the lifting door c1 or on the side wall next to the grinding chamber 103, and is used to observe the internal grinding status. With the setting of the observation chamber c2, the operator can observe the grinding progress and status inside the grinding chamber 103 in real time when the lifting door c1 is closed, taking into account both safety protection and visual monitoring needs.

[0051] Platform 104 is equipped with a three-color light 80, which is used to indicate the operating status of the equipment; the bottom of platform 104 is equipped with casters 90. Through the visual signals of the three-color light 80 (such as green - running, yellow - standby, red - fault), operators can intuitively grasp the overall operating status of the equipment from a distance; the casters 90 facilitate the flexible transfer of the equipment between different workstations or workshops, improving the convenience of equipment deployment.

[0052] Furthermore, it is necessary to further explain an automatic lens loading and unloading method based on a lens grinding device, which includes the following steps: Step S1: The gripper 11 of the first robotic arm 10 moves the stacked trays 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 to the finished product area a2. The first suction cup 12 of the first robotic arm 10 then picks up the lenses to be ground on the trays 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 and moves them to the fixed position a3. In this step, the gripper 11 and the first suction cup 12 are integrated on the same first robotic arm 10, realizing the synchronous execution of tray handling and lens picking and placing. It has the dual functions of overall tray movement and precise lens transfer, allowing empty trays to be directly reused as finished product collection trays without the need for additional finished product trays. This forms a dual automated circulation basis for trays and lenses, simplifies material management, realizes the recycling of tray resources, and eliminates the need for manual intervention in tray handling and finished product sorting.

[0053] Step S2: The second suction cup 21 of the second robotic arm 20 picks up the lens at the fixed position a3 and activates the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23 to flip it 180 degrees and transfer the lens to the grinding chamber 103 for grinding. In this step, the second robotic arm 20 moves along the second X-axis track x2, and can sequentially transfer multiple lenses to multiple parallel grinding chambers 103 for grinding. The multiple grinding chambers 103 work in parallel, and each grinding chamber 103 operates independently. It can process different lenses at the same time to increase production capacity, and can also perform different processes such as rough grinding and fine grinding on the same lens in sequence to improve processing quality and enhance the flexibility and applicability of the equipment.

[0054] Step S3: After grinding is completed, the second suction cup 21 or the third suction cup 22 is rotated 180 degrees by the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23 on the second robotic arm 20, and the ground lens is picked up from the grinding chamber 103 and transferred to the finished product waiting position a4 by the third suction cup 22. The reason for rotating 180 degrees is that when the second suction cup 21 or the third suction cup 22 picks up the lens at the fixed position a3 or the finished product waiting position a4, the lens is located below the suction cup; when the lens needs to be sent into the grinding chamber 103 for grinding, due to the limitations of the grinding mechanism, the lens needs to be located above the suction cup. Therefore, the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23 rotates the suction cup 180 degrees to meet the pick-and-place requirements of the grinding station. This flipping action is not only used to switch between grinding the front and back of the lens, but also to meet the requirements of the grinding chamber 103 for the relative position of the lens and the suction cup. Specifically, at the fixed position a3 or the finished product waiting position a4, the lens is adsorbed below the suction cup, while in the grinding chamber 103, the lens needs to be above the suction cup to match the pick-up and put-down conditions of the grinding mechanism. Therefore, the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23 flips the suction cup 180 degrees before or after the pick-up and put-down operation, realizing the change of the lens's vertical position relative to the suction cup. Through the 180-degree flipping of the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23, the lens orientation can be accurately switched between the pick-up position and the grinding position, ensuring the continuity and compatibility of the automated process, eliminating the need for manual adjustment of the lens orientation, and achieving seamless connection between the grinding process and the pick-up and put-down process.

[0055] Step S4: The first suction cup 12 of the first robotic arm 10 picks up and transfers the lens from the finished product waiting position a4 to the material tray 30 in the finished product area a2, completing an automatic loading, grinding, and unloading cycle for one lens. In this step, while the first suction cup 12 transfers the lens from the finished product waiting position a4 to the material tray 30 in the finished product area a2, the gripper 11 of the first robotic arm 10 moves the next empty material tray 30 or the material tray to be processed in the unprocessed material area a1 to the finished product area a2, achieving continuous supply and organization of material trays. It should be noted that the gripper 11 only operates when the lens placement position of the uppermost material tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 is empty; that is, the lens placement position of the uppermost material tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 is empty at this time. This collaborative mechanism ensures precise linkage between the material tray handling action and the lens processing cycle, triggering tray replacement only when the material tray is exhausted, avoiding ineffective actions, and reinforcing the fully automated closed loop.

[0056] Preferably, in step S1, the gripper 11 of the first robotic arm 10 and the first suction cup 12 perform parallel operations. While the gripper 11 moves the material tray 30, the first suction cup 12 transfers the lens to the fixed position a3. This parallel operation enables the first robotic arm 10 to complete the synchronous execution of material tray handling and lens picking and placing in space, and to achieve seamless connection in time, avoiding path detours and waiting, and improving production efficiency.

[0057] Preferably, in step S1, the gripper 11 of the first robotic arm 10 is used under the following conditions: (1) The unprocessed material area a1 has multiple layers of material trays 30 stacked, and the finished product area a2 has an empty material tray 30 placed in advance; (2) The material tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 has the same specifications as the material tray 30 in the finished product area a2; (3) When the lens placement position of the uppermost tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 is empty, the gripper 11 of the first robotic arm 10 moves to the center of the tray 30, and the gripper 11 is driven by the cylinder to move downward to the middle of the tray 30. The gripper 11 clamps the tray, and then the cylinder retracts. The gripper 11 picks up the empty tray 30 and transports it to the tray 30 in the finished product area a2, stacking it on top of the tray 30 in the finished product area a2. This stacking method allows the empty tray to be directly reused as a finished product collection tray, simplifying material management and realizing the recycling of tray resources. (4) The gripper 11 operates only when the lens placement position of the uppermost tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 is empty. This condition triggering mechanism enables the tray transport action of the gripper 11 to be precisely linked with the lens processing cycle, avoiding invalid actions and improving automation efficiency.

[0058] Preferably, in step S2, the second robotic arm 20 moves along the second X-axis track x2, sequentially transferring multiple lenses to multiple side-by-side grinding chambers 103 for grinding. This arrangement allows the second robotic arm 20 to sequentially access multiple side-by-side grinding chambers 103 along the second X-axis track x2, achieving flexible scheduling of multiple workstations and improving equipment flexibility and productivity.

[0059] Preferably, in step S2, multiple grinding chambers 103 operate in parallel, with each grinding chamber 103 running independently. This allows for the simultaneous processing of different lenses, as well as the sequential execution of different processes such as rough grinding and fine grinding on the same lens. This parallel design ensures that the start-up, shutdown, parameter adjustment, or maintenance of a single chamber does not affect other chambers, guaranteeing the continuity and stability of overall production and improving equipment scheduling flexibility and production efficiency.

[0060] Preferably, in step S3, the flipping action of the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23 is not only used to switch between grinding the front and back sides of the lens, but also to meet the requirements of the grinding chamber 103 for the relative position of the lens and the suction cup. Specifically, at the fixed position a3 or the finished product waiting position a4, the lens is adsorbed below the suction cup, while in the grinding chamber 103, the lens needs to be located above the suction cup to match the pick-up and put-down conditions of the grinding mechanism. Therefore, the up-and-down flipping mechanism 23 flips the suction cup 180 degrees before or after the pick-up and put-down operation, realizing the change of the lens's vertical position relative to the suction cup. This flipping mechanism accurately adapts to the pick-up and put-down conditions of the grinding station, ensuring the continuity and compatibility of the automated process.

[0061] Preferably, in step S4, while the first suction cup 12 transfers the lens from the finished product waiting position a4 to the tray 30 in the finished product area a2, the gripper 11 of the first robotic arm 10 moves the next empty tray 30 or the tray to be processed in the unprocessed material area a1 to the finished product area a2, realizing continuous supply and organization of trays. It should be noted that the gripper 11 only operates when the lens placement position of the uppermost tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 is empty, that is, at this time the lens placement position of the uppermost tray 30 in the unprocessed material area a1 is empty. This collaborative mechanism enables the first robotic arm 10 to perform tray replenishment while completing finished product recycling, realizing a fully automated closed loop from tray loading, lens picking and placing, grinding and processing, flipping and fitting to finished product collection. All of this is completed collaboratively by the first robotic arm 10 and the second robotic arm 20, reducing labor costs, avoiding human damage, and achieving continuous, stable, and efficient fully automated production.

[0062] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, or the orientation or positional relationship commonly used when the product of this invention is in use. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention. Similarly, "first" and "second" are only for ease of understanding and have no other directional meaning, and should not be considered as limitations on this invention.

[0063] This invention provides a lens grinding apparatus and an automatic lens loading and unloading method. Specific examples are used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the invention. The descriptions of these embodiments are merely for the purpose of helping to understand the invention and its core ideas. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various improvements and modifications to the invention without departing from its principles, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A lens grinding apparatus, characterized in that, include: The grinding equipment has multiple grinding chambers arranged side by side; An automatic pick-and-place mechanism includes a platform on which a first robotic arm, a second robotic arm, an unprocessed material area, a finished product area, a fixed position, and a finished product waiting position are arranged. The unprocessed material area is used for stacking and placing material trays; The first robotic arm is equipped with a gripper and a first suction cup. The gripper is used to move the tray of unprocessed material to the finished product area. The first suction cup is used to adsorb the lens on the tray of unprocessed material and move it to a fixed position. The second robotic arm is equipped with a second suction cup and a third suction cup, as well as an up-and-down flipping mechanism. The second suction cup is used to pick up and transfer the lens at the fixed position to the grinding chamber for grinding. The third suction cup is used to pick up and transfer the polished lens to the finished product waiting position; The up-and-down flipping mechanism is used to flip the second or third suction cup 180 degrees when switching between the fixed position or the finished product waiting position and the grinding chamber. The first suction cup is also used to pick up and transfer the lenses on the finished product waiting position to the material tray in the finished product area.

2. The lens grinding equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first robotic arm is equipped with a first X-axis track, a first Y-axis track, and a first Z-axis track; The unprocessed material area, the finished product area, and the fixed point are arranged sequentially along a direction parallel to the first Y-axis track. The finished product waiting position and the fixed position are arranged in a direction parallel to the first X-axis track.

3. The lens grinding apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second robotic arm is equipped with a second X-axis track, a second Y-axis track, and a second Z-axis track; The second X-axis track is aligned with the parallel direction of the multiple grinding chambers.

4. The lens grinding apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: A clamping mechanism is provided at the fixed position. The clamping mechanism includes a cylinder and a clamping plate. The cylinder drives the clamping plate to clamp the lens so that the lens is in the set position.

5. The lens grinding apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the multiple grinding chambers is equipped with an independent grinding system. Different grinding chambers can process different lenses simultaneously, or they can process different grinding processes on the same lens.

6. The lens grinding apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that: The independent grinding system includes a rotary disk assembly, a lifting and positioning assembly, and a swing assembly. The grinding systems of each grinding chamber operate independently and do not interfere with each other.

7. A method for automatically picking up and placing lenses based on the lens grinding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Step S1: The gripper of the first robotic arm moves the stacked trays in the unprocessed material area to the finished product area. The first suction cup of the first robotic arm picks up the lenses to be ground on the trays in the unprocessed material area and moves them to a fixed position. Step S2: Using the second suction cup of the second robotic arm, the lens at the fixed position is adsorbed and the up-and-down flipping mechanism is activated to flip it 180 degrees and transfer the lens to the grinding chamber for grinding. Step S3: After grinding is completed, the second or third suction cup is rotated 180 degrees by the up-and-down flipping mechanism on the second robotic arm, and the ground lens is picked up from the grinding chamber and transferred to the finished product waiting position by the third suction cup; Step S4: The first suction cup of the first robotic arm picks up the lens in the finished product waiting position and transfers it to the material tray in the finished product area, completing an automatic loading, grinding and unloading cycle of a lens.

8. The automatic lens loading and unloading method according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step S1, the gripper of the first robotic arm and the first suction cup perform parallel operations, and the gripper moves the material tray and the first suction cup transfers the lens to a fixed position.

9. The automatic lens loading and unloading method according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step S1, the conditions for using the gripper of the first robotic arm are as follows: (1) The unprocessed material area is stacked with multiple layers of material trays, and the finished product area is pre-placed with one material tray; (2) The material trays in the unprocessed material area are of the same specifications as those in the finished product area; (3) When the lens placement position of the uppermost tray of the unprocessed material area is empty, the gripper of the first robotic arm moves to the center of the tray, and the cylinder drives the gripper to move down to the middle of the tray. The gripper clamps, and then the cylinder retracts. The gripper picks up the empty tray and transports it to the top of the finished product area tray, stacking it on the finished product area tray. (4) The gripper operates only when the lens placement position of the uppermost tray in the unprocessed material area is empty.

10. The automatic lens loading and unloading method according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step S2, the second robotic arm moves along the second X-axis track and sequentially transfers multiple lenses to multiple grinding chambers arranged side by side for grinding.

11. The automatic lens loading and unloading method according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step S2, multiple grinding chambers work in parallel, and each grinding chamber operates independently, which can process different lenses at the same time, and can also perform different processes such as rough grinding and fine grinding on the same lens in sequence.

12. The automatic lens loading and unloading method according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step S3, the flipping action of the up-down flipping mechanism is not only used to switch between grinding the front and back of the lens, but also to meet the requirements of the grinding chamber for the relative position of the lens and the suction cup. Specifically, in the fixed position or the finished product waiting position, the lens is adsorbed below the suction cup, while in the grinding chamber, the lens needs to be located above the suction cup to match the pick-up and put-down conditions of the grinding mechanism. Therefore, the up-down flipping mechanism flips the suction cup 180 degrees before or after the pick-up and put-down operation to realize the conversion of the up-down position of the lens relative to the suction cup.

13. The automatic lens loading and unloading method according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step S4, while the first suction cup transfers the lens on the finished product waiting position to the finished product area tray, the gripper of the first robotic arm moves the next empty tray or tray to be processed in the unprocessed material area to the finished product area, so as to realize the continuous supply and sorting of trays.

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