Distributing vibrating disk and injection molding machine feeding system

Abstract

The application provides a material distribution vibrating disc and an injection molding machine feeding system, and the material distribution vibrating disc comprises a disc body, the disc body has two oppositely arranged side portions, and the inner sides of the two side portions are respectively provided with a blowing slot and a plurality of blowing holes; the blowing slot extends along the length direction of the side portion, and the plurality of blowing holes are located on the side away from the bottom of the disc body. The material distribution vibrating disc can utilize the large-area air outlet characteristics of the blowing slot to blow ionized wind on the material with low vibration height and more layers, so as to remove static electricity in a large area and quickly disperse the adhered and stacked material; meanwhile, the concentrated airflow characteristics of the plurality of blowing holes can be utilized to blow ionized wind on the material with high vibration height and less layers, so as to remove static electricity and accurately separate the adhered and stacked material, thereby effectively improving the static electricity removal effect and dispersion efficiency of the material.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of injection molding machine technology, and more specifically, to a material dispensing vibratory feeder and an injection molding machine feeding system. Background Technology

[0002] Injection molding inserts require the precise placement of materials such as mesh fabric and metal inserts inside the mold. Currently, most industries use vibratory feeders combined with robotic arms to automate material feeding. However, thin materials such as mesh fabric are prone to static electricity, causing them to attract and clump together. Existing vibratory feeders struggle to effectively separate the materials, resulting in poor feeding reliability. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a new technical solution for a material dispensing vibratory feeder, which can at least solve the technical problem that existing vibratory feeders are unable to separate stacked materials.

[0004] This application also provides a new technical solution for an injection molding machine feeding system.

[0005] According to a first aspect of this application, a material dispensing vibratory feeder is provided, comprising: a feeder body having two oppositely disposed sides, wherein each of the two sides is provided with an air slit and a plurality of air holes on its inner side; the air slit extends along the length direction of the side, and the plurality of air holes are located on the side of the air slit away from the bottom of the feeder body.

[0006] Optionally, the disc body has two sides arranged opposite to each other along its length direction and two sides arranged opposite to each other along its width direction, and the air slit and the plurality of air holes are provided on the two sides arranged opposite to each other along the width direction.

[0007] Optionally, the air-blowing slit is provided with multiple rows of air-blowing holes on the side away from the bottom of the disc; along the direction away from the air-blowing slit, the arrangement density of the air-blowing holes in the multiple rows of air-blowing holes decreases row by row.

[0008] Optionally, the air holes in two adjacent rows of air holes are staggered.

[0009] Optionally, the density of the air holes at both ends of each row of air holes is greater than the density at the middle position.

[0010] Optionally, the side portion includes a first end section, a middle section, and a last end section distributed sequentially along its length; along a direction away from the air slit, a plurality of the air slits in the second row are located at the first end section and the last end section.

[0011] According to a second aspect of this application, an injection molding machine feeding system is provided, including a material distributing vibratory feeder as described in any of the above claims. The material distributing vibratory feeder is used to vibrate the material in the feeder to a predetermined posture to screen target materials. The injection molding machine feeding system further includes: a correction unit, a robot arm, a vision unit, and a control unit. The robot arm is used to grasp the target material in the feeder and transfer the target material to the correction unit. The vision unit is used to acquire the position and pose information of each material in the feeder, the first pose information of the material held by the robot arm, and the second pose information of the material after correction by the correction unit. The control unit is configured to: screen and determine the target material according to the pose information, and control the robot arm to perform grasping and transferring actions of the target material according to the position information; control the correction unit to correct the posture of the material according to the first pose information; compare whether the second pose information matches the preset target pose information; if the pose matching is qualified, control to proceed to the next process; if the pose matching is unqualified, control the robot arm to re-grab the material and re-execute the subsequent steps and / or issue an alarm signal.

[0012] Optionally, the vision unit includes a first vision module, a second vision module, and a third vision module; the first vision module is used to acquire the position information, the second vision module is used to acquire the first posture information, and the third vision module is used to acquire the second posture information.

[0013] Optionally, the control unit is further configured to: if the posture matching is not qualified, adjust the vibration parameters of the material dispensing vibratory plate, and then control the robot to re-grab the material and re-execute the subsequent steps.

[0014] Optionally, the control unit can preset multiple material parameter templates to enable rapid model changeover and adaptive adjustment.

[0015] According to the material dispensing vibratory feeder of this application, by setting air slits and multiple air holes on two opposite sides of the feeder body, the large-area air outlet characteristics of the air slits can be used to blow ion air onto materials with low vibration height and many layers to eliminate static electricity over a large area and quickly break up the sticky stacks; at the same time, the concentrated airflow characteristics of the multiple air holes can be used to blow ion air onto materials with high vibration height and few layers to remove static electricity in a targeted manner and accurately separate loose and sticky materials, thereby effectively improving the static electricity removal effect and dispersion efficiency of the materials.

[0016] Other features and advantages of this application will become clear from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present application and, together with their description, serve to explain the principles of the present application.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a material dispensing vibratory feeder according to an embodiment provided in this application; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the side structure of a material dispensing vibratory feeder according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 3 This is one of the structural schematic diagrams of an injection molding machine feeding system according to an embodiment provided in this application; Figure 4 This is a second schematic diagram of the structure of an injection molding machine feeding system according to an embodiment provided in this application.

[0019] Figure Labels 10. Disc body; 11. Side; 111. Air slit; 112. Air vent; 20. Robotic arm; 30. First vision module; 40. Second vision module; 50. Third vision module; 60. Correction unit; 70. Control unit. Detailed Implementation

[0020] Various exemplary embodiments of the present application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions, and values ​​of the components and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application.

[0021] The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative and is in no way intended to limit the scope of this application and its application or use.

[0022] Techniques, methods, and equipment known to those skilled in the art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, such techniques, methods, and equipment should be considered part of the specification.

[0023] In all the examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values ​​should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not as limitations. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0024] It should be noted that similar labels and letters in the following figures indicate similar items; therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be discussed further in subsequent figures.

[0025] The material dispensing vibratory feeder according to an embodiment of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0026] like Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, the material dispensing vibratory feeder according to an embodiment of this application includes: a feeder body 10.

[0027] Specifically, the disc body 10 has two oppositely arranged sides 11, and each of the two sides 11 is provided with an air slit 111 and a plurality of air holes 112 on its inner side; the air slit 111 extends along the length direction of the side 11, and the plurality of air holes 112 are located on the side of the air slit 111 away from the bottom of the disc body 10.

[0028] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the material dispensing vibratory feeder according to an embodiment of this application includes a disc body 10, which is a cuboid structure. The disc body 10 is provided with a material receiving trough suitable for holding materials. The side wall of the disc body 10 includes two opposing side portions 11, which are hollow structures and can be connected to an ion blower through a pipeline. The inner side of the two side portions 11 (i.e., the side closer to the material receiving trough) is provided with an air blowing slit 111 and a plurality of air blowing holes 112 communicating with the interior of the side portion 11. The air blowing slit 111 is an elongated opening extending along the length direction of the corresponding side portion 11, and the plurality of air blowing holes 112 are all located above the air blowing slit 111. When the disc 10 vibrates, materials with more layers vibrate at a relatively lower height, while materials with fewer layers vibrate at a relatively higher height. Ionizing air can be blown onto materials with lower vibration heights through the air blowing slit 111. The air blowing slit 111 has a wide air outlet coverage, which can eliminate static electricity over a large area and quickly break up the sticky stacks of materials. Multiple air blowing holes 112 can blow ionizing air onto materials with higher vibration heights. The airflow from multiple air blowing holes 112 is concentrated, which can target materials with higher vibration heights with ionizing air to remove static electricity and separate loosely clumped materials.

[0029] Therefore, according to the material dispensing vibratory plate provided in this embodiment, by providing air slits 111 and multiple air holes 112 on the two opposite sides 11 of the plate body 10, the large-area air outlet characteristics of the air slits 111 can be used to blow ion air onto materials with low vibration height and many layers, so as to eliminate static electricity over a large area and quickly break up the sticky stacks; at the same time, the concentrated airflow characteristics of the multiple air holes 112 can be used to blow ion air onto materials with high vibration height and few layers, so as to remove static electricity in a targeted manner and accurately separate the scattered and sticky materials, thereby effectively improving the static electricity removal effect and dispersion efficiency of the materials.

[0030] In some specific embodiments of this application, the disc body 10 has two sides 11 arranged opposite to each other along its length direction and two sides 11 arranged opposite to each other along its width direction, and the air slit 111 and the plurality of air holes 112 are provided on the two sides 11 arranged opposite to each other along the width direction.

[0031] Specifically, the sidewall of the disk 10 is formed by two side portions 11 arranged opposite each other along the length direction of the disk 10 and two side portions 11 arranged opposite each other along the width direction of the disk 10; the air blowing slits 111 are only provided on the two side portions 11 arranged opposite each other along the width direction of the disk 10, that is, on the sidewalls extending along the length direction of the disk 10. Since the sidewalls extending along the length direction of the disk 10 are relatively long, the air blowing slits 111 can extend sufficiently along the length direction, thereby expanding the coverage area of ​​the ion wind and improving the material dispersion efficiency. Moreover, compared with providing air blowing slits 111 on all four side portions 11, providing air blowing slits 111 on only the two side portions 11 arranged opposite each other along the width direction can effectively prevent airflows from four directions from converging and colliding in the central area of ​​the disk 10, thereby preventing the material from gathering in the center of the disk 10, which is conducive to the orderly dispersion of the material along the length direction of the disk 10 and to the vibration of the material to a predetermined posture.

[0032] According to one embodiment of this application, the air slit 111 is provided with multiple rows of air holes 112 on the side away from the bottom of the disc body 10; along the direction away from the air slit 111, the arrangement density of the air holes 112 in the multiple rows of air holes 112 decreases row by row.

[0033] In other words, the side 11 has multiple rows of air holes 112 on the upper side of the air slit 111. The arrangement density of the multiple rows of air holes 112 decreases from bottom to top, so that the arrangement density of air holes 112 near the low position area is larger, which can provide sufficient ion wind for materials with low vibration height and many layers to quickly disperse the sticky stacks; while the arrangement density of air holes 112 in the high position area far away from the air slit 111 is smaller, which can avoid excessive airflow impact on the initially dispersed materials.

[0034] In some specific embodiments of this application, the air holes 112 in two adjacent rows of air holes 112 are staggered to avoid multiple air flows forming airflow blind zones, which can make the distribution of ion wind in the disk 10 more uniform and further improve the electrostatic removal effect.

[0035] According to one embodiment of this application, the density of the air holes 112 at both ends of each row of air holes 112 is greater than that at the middle position. This can enhance the airflow coverage at both ends of the length direction of the disc 10, guide the material in the middle area to disperse and move towards both ends, thereby balancing the distribution density of the material in the disc 10, avoiding excessive concentration and accumulation of material in the central area of ​​the disc 10, and facilitating the uniform dispersion and vibration of the material along the length direction to a predetermined posture.

[0036] In some specific embodiments of this application, the side portion 11 includes a first end section, a middle section and a last end section distributed sequentially along its length direction; along the direction away from the air slit 111, a plurality of the air slits 112 in the second row of air slits 112 are located at the first end section and the last end section.

[0037] Specifically, the side portion 11 is divided into a middle section, a first end section located at the first end of the middle section, and a tail end section located at the second end of the middle section. Two rows of air holes 112 are provided on the side portion 11. Multiple air holes 112 in the second row are symmetrically distributed at the first and tail ends, avoiding the middle section, thus increasing the airflow intensity at the first and tail ends. When feeding material into the disc 10, the material is usually located in the central area of ​​the disc 10. During air blowing, because the pressure is low where the airflow velocity is high, the material in the central area of ​​the disc 10 can be guided to the first and tail ends during vibration, thereby facilitating the uniform dispersion of the material along its length and its vibration to a predetermined posture.

[0038] Embodiments of this application also provide an injection molding machine feeding system, including the material distributing vibratory feeder described in any of the above embodiments. Since the material distributing vibratory feeder according to the embodiments of this application has the aforementioned technical effects, the injection molding machine feeding system according to the embodiments of this application also has corresponding technical effects, which will not be elaborated upon further in this embodiment.

[0039] According to one embodiment of this application, the material dispensing vibratory feeder is used to vibrate the material in the feeder body 10 to a predetermined posture to screen target materials. The injection molding machine feeding system further includes: a correction unit 60, a robot arm 20, a vision unit, and a control unit 70; the robot arm 20 is used to grasp the target material in the feeder body 10 and transfer the target material to the correction unit 60; the vision unit is used to acquire the position information of each material in the feeder body 10, the first posture information of the material held by the robot arm 20, and the second posture information of the material after correction by the correction unit 60. The control unit 70 is configured to perform the following steps: filter and determine target materials based on the pose information, and control the robot arm 20 to perform grasping and transferring actions on the target materials based on the position information; control the correction unit 60 to correct the material posture based on the first posture information; compare whether the second posture information matches the preset target posture information; if the posture match is qualified, control to enter the next process; if the posture match is unqualified, control the robot arm 20 to re-grab the material and re-execute the subsequent steps and / or issue an alarm signal.

[0040] Specifically, such as Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown, the injection molding machine feeding system of this application embodiment mainly includes a material dispensing vibratory plate, a correction unit 60, a robot arm 20, a vision unit, and a control unit 70. The material dispensing vibratory plate, the correction unit 60, the robot arm 20, and the vision unit are all communicatively connected to the control unit 70 (i.e., the controller). The vibratory feeder is used to hold materials (e.g., mesh fabric) and can vibrate at least one material in the feeder 10 to a predetermined posture. The vision unit is used to acquire the position and pose information of the material in the feeder 10 and send it to the control unit 70. The control unit 70 can filter target materials according to the position and pose information and can control the robot arm 20 to grab the target material according to the position information corresponding to the target material and transfer the target material to the correction unit 60. After grabbing the material, the vision unit can acquire the posture information of the target material on the robot arm 20, i.e., the first posture information, and send it to the control unit 70. Subsequently, the control unit 70 can control the robot arm 20 to transfer the target material to the correction unit 60. The control unit 70 determines the offset of the material according to the first posture information and controls the correction unit 60 to correct the target material.

[0041] After correction, the vision unit acquires the posture information of the material on the correction unit 60, i.e., the second posture information, and sends it to the control unit 70. The control unit 70 determines whether the second posture information matches the preset target posture information. If the second posture information is the same as the preset target posture information, it indicates that the posture matching is qualified. At this time, the control unit 70 can control the injection molding machine's feeding system to enter the next process, such as controlling the machine tool to pick up the material, transfer it into the injection molding machine mold, and perform injection molding. If the second posture information is different from the preset target posture information, it indicates that the posture matching is unqualified. At this time, the control unit 70 controls the robot arm 20 to remove the material from the correction unit 60, then re-grabs the material and re-executes the subsequent correction steps and the steps to determine whether the posture matching is qualified. Furthermore, when the posture matching is unqualified, the control unit can simultaneously issue an alarm signal; after receiving the alarm signal, the display or alarm can issue an audible and visual prompt to remind the user that the current posture matching is abnormal.

[0042] Therefore, the injection molding machine feeding system according to the embodiments of this application, through the set vision unit, can screen target materials with predetermined postures in the disc 10, and collect the posture of the material on the robot arm 20 to determine the offset, which is then corrected by the correction unit 60. After the correction is completed, the vision unit re-inspects and confirms the correction effect, forming a closed-loop control, thereby ensuring that the material is accurately inserted into the mold with a standard posture, effectively reducing the product defect rate and avoiding the risk of mold collision damage. If the re-inspection determines that the material posture is still not up to standard, the system will automatically trigger the process of re-grabbing and re-correcting, thereby reducing manual intervention and equipment downtime caused by occasional anomalies and improving the stability of continuous system operation.

[0043] In some optional examples of this application, the operating end of the robotic arm 20 is equipped with a suction cup for easy picking up and placing of materials. The correction unit 60 mainly includes a correction fixture for holding materials and a drive assembly for correcting the material's posture. The drive assembly may include a first drive member for driving the correction fixture to move along the X-axis, a second drive member for driving the correction fixture to move along the Y-axis, and a rotary drive member for driving the fixture to rotate about the R-axis. The correction unit 60 may also employ other existing correction devices, which will not be described in detail in this example.

[0044] In some specific embodiments of this application, the vision unit includes a first vision module 30, a second vision module 40, and a third vision module 50; the first vision module 30 is used to acquire the position information, the second vision module 40 is used to acquire the first posture information, and the third vision module 50 is used to acquire the second posture information.

[0045] In other words, the vision unit mainly consists of three vision modules (such as a CCD camera): a first vision module 30, a second vision module 40, and a third vision module 50. The first vision module 30 can be fixed above the disk 10 via a first bracket to acquire the position and pose information of the material in the disk 10. The second vision module 40 can be fixed below the robot arm 20 via a second bracket to acquire the first pose information of the target material on the robot arm 20 after it has grasped the material. The third vision module 50 can be fixed above the correction unit 60 via a third bracket to acquire the second pose information of the material on the correction unit 60 after the correction unit 60 has completed its correction.

[0046] In this embodiment, the three vision modules can be independently arranged at their respective workstations, which can reduce positioning errors caused by movement across workstations and ensure the real-time performance and accuracy of visual inspection at each workstation.

[0047] According to one embodiment of this application, the control unit 70 is further configured to: if the posture matching is not qualified, adjust the vibration parameters of the material dispensing vibratory plate, and then control the robot arm 20 to grab the material again from the correction unit 60 and re-execute the subsequent steps.

[0048] In other words, when the second posture information detected by the third vision module 50 in this embodiment of the injection molding machine feeding system does not match the preset target posture information (i.e., material placement fails), the injection molding machine feeding system can directly control the robot arm 20 to re-grab the material from the correction unit 60; or, before the robot arm 20 re-grabs the material, the vibration parameters of the distributing vibratory feeder are adjusted according to a preset strategy. After the distributing vibratory feeder runs with the adjusted vibration parameters until the material posture stabilizes again, the robot arm 20 is controlled to re-grab the target material and the subsequent correction steps and the steps of judging whether the posture matching is qualified are re-executed. The distributing vibratory feeder runs according to the adjusted vibration parameters, which can improve the material dispersion effect and posture distribution from the material feeding source, thereby improving the posture qualification rate of the target material to be grasped in the subsequent process. This gives the injection molding machine feeding system a certain degree of fault tolerance and self-recovery capability, reduces the frequency of repeated grasping failures and manual intervention, and thus improves the system's adaptability and continuous operation stability, reducing downtime caused by occasional failures.

[0049] It should be noted that the vibration parameters include displacement, velocity, acceleration, vibration frequency, etc., which are automatically adjusted according to actual working needs. At the same time, the air output of the vibratory plate will also be adaptively adjusted as the vibration parameters change.

[0050] In some specific embodiments of this application, the control unit 70 presets multiple material parameter templates, enabling rapid changeover and adaptive adjustment. When switching production varieties, operators select or import the corresponding material's size, shape, and posture standard parameters through the control module; the system automatically adjusts the vibration frequency and amplitude of the flexible vibration dispensing module, the gripping force and motion trajectory of the robotic arm 20, the correction stroke and angle range of the correction tooling module, and the recognition algorithm parameters and judgment thresholds of each vision module, enabling compatibility with materials of different specifications in a short time, thereby significantly improving the flexible switching capability of the production line. In addition, the control unit 70 can record visual data, correction parameters, success rate, and other information during each feeding process, facilitating subsequent quality traceability and process analysis; simultaneously, combined with machine learning algorithms, the control unit 70 can gradually optimize the flexible vibration parameters, correction strategies, and gripping paths, achieving process self-learning, and long-term operation can further improve feeding efficiency and accuracy.

[0051] While specific embodiments of this application have been described in detail by way of examples, those skilled in the art should understand that the above examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of this application. The scope of this application is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A material dispensing vibratory feeder, characterized in that, include: The disc body (10) has two oppositely arranged sides (11), and the inner sides of the two sides (11) are provided with air slits (111) and multiple air holes (112). The air slit (111) extends along the length of the side (11), and a plurality of air holes (112) are located on the side of the air slit (111) away from the bottom of the disc (10).

2. The material dispensing vibratory feeder according to claim 1, characterized in that, The disc body (10) has two sides (11) arranged opposite to each other along its length direction and two sides (11) arranged opposite to each other along its width direction. The air slit (111) and a plurality of air holes (112) are provided on the two sides (11) arranged opposite to each other along the width direction.

3. The material dispensing vibratory feeder according to claim 2, characterized in that, The air slit (111) is provided with multiple rows of air holes (112) on the side away from the bottom of the disc (10). Along the direction away from the air slit (111), the arrangement density of the air holes (112) in the multiple rows of air holes (112) decreases row by row.

4. The material dispensing vibratory feeder according to claim 3, characterized in that, The air holes (112) in two adjacent rows of air holes (112) are staggered.

5. The material dispensing vibratory feeder according to claim 3, characterized in that, The density of the air holes (112) at both ends of each row of air holes (112) is greater than the density at the middle position.

6. The material dispensing vibratory feeder according to claim 5, characterized in that, The side portion (11) includes a head section, a middle section and a tail section distributed sequentially along its length. Along a direction away from the air slit (111), a plurality of the air holes (112) in the second row of air holes (112) are located at the beginning and end sections.

7. A feeding system for an injection molding machine, characterized in that, The material distribution vibratory plate according to any one of claims 1-6 is used to vibrate the material in the plate (10) to a predetermined posture to screen the target material. The injection molding machine feeding system further includes: a correction unit (60), a robot (20), a vision unit and a control unit (70). The robotic arm (20) is used to grab the target material in the disc (10) and transfer the target material to the correction unit (60). The vision unit is used to acquire the position and pose information of each material in the disk (10), the first pose information of the material held by the robot (20), and the second pose information of the material after being corrected by the correction unit (60); The control unit (70) is configured to perform the following steps: The target material is selected and determined according to the pose information, and the robot (20) is controlled to perform the grasping and transfer action of the target material according to the position information; The correction unit (60) is controlled to correct the material posture according to the first posture information; Compare whether the second posture information matches the preset target posture information; If the posture matching is qualified, the system will proceed to the next process; if the posture matching is unqualified, the system will control the robot (20) to re-grab the material and re-execute the subsequent steps and / or issue an alarm signal.

8. The injection molding machine feeding system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The visual unit includes a first visual module (30), a second visual module (40), and a third visual module (50). The first vision module (30) is used to acquire the position information, the second vision module (40) is used to acquire the first posture information, and the third vision module (50) is used to acquire the second posture information.

9. The injection molding machine feeding system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The control unit (70) is also configured to: If the posture matching is not qualified, adjust the vibration parameters of the material distribution vibratory plate, and then control the robot (20) to grab the material again and re-execute the subsequent steps.

10. The injection molding machine feeding system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The control unit (70) presets multiple material parameter templates to achieve rapid model change and adaptive adjustment.

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