A connector assembly detection packaging all-in-one machine based on an industrial control system

Abstract

The application discloses a connector assembling, detecting, packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system, and belongs to the technical field of automatic connector assembling equipment. The machine comprises a feeding mechanism, which is used for automatically feeding and directionally screening rubber cores; an assembling mechanism is arranged downstream of the feeding mechanism, and the assembling mechanism comprises a grounding lug inserting mechanism and a PIN needle inserting mechanism; a visual detecting mechanism is arranged downstream of the assembling mechanism; a defective product removing mechanism is arranged downstream of the visual detecting mechanism and is used for removing products determined as defective products through detection; and the data acquisition module, the virtual queue advancing module and the station interlocking output module are used to continuously bind the states of each rubber core or semi-finished product in the grounding lug inserting, PIN needle pressing, visual detecting, defective product removing, carrier tape entering a cavity and sealing and winding processes, so that the OK / NG determination result of a single product can be synchronously transmitted along with the material flow, and the defective products can be prevented from being missed, removed by mistake or mistakenly entering the packaging station due to the beat error, station waiting or carrier tape stepping deviation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of automatic connector assembly equipment technology, and in particular to an integrated machine for connector assembly, testing and packaging based on an industrial control system. Background Technology

[0002] Board-to-board connectors are key components for achieving electrical interconnection in electronic devices and are widely used in consumer electronics, industrial control, communication equipment, and automotive electronics. The MX2.0 internal snap-in SMT 90° 2P connector is a typical surface mount connector. Its structure consists of a plastic core, a left grounding tab, a right grounding tab, and multiple rows of continuous pins. During assembly, the grounding tabs must be accurately inserted into the pre-drilled slots on both sides of the plastic core, and the continuous pins must be pressed into their corresponding holes along the axial direction of the plastic core.

[0003] However, the assembly process for such connectors has long relied on manual insertion in the industry. Operators use simple hand jigs to insert the grounding plate and pins into the glue core one by one. This manual production method has the following prominent problems: First, the positioning accuracy of manual operation is limited by human physiology; after long periods of repetitive work, eye and hand fatigue is inevitable, making it difficult to maintain stable insertion force and angle control, resulting in frequent assembly defects such as missing parts, misalignment, skewness, floating, and inconsistent pin insertion depth. The differences in techniques between different operators further make it difficult to guarantee the consistency of connector products, with significant quality fluctuations between batches. Second, to ensure the quality of the finished product, a second visual inspection is usually required after manual assembly, or dimensional sampling is performed with simple measuring tools; however, the human eye has limited ability to detect minute dimensional deviations, especially when checking key parameters such as whether the connector is missing parts, pin coplanarity, and terminal extension length, the rate of missed detection is high, and the inspection cycle cannot match the front-end assembly speed, forming a production capacity bottleneck. Third, there is a lack of direct automated connection between the assembly process and the subsequent carrier tape packaging process. Usually, there are two or more separate machines, and the connector semi-finished products need to be manually transferred multiple times or temporarily stored offline. This discontinuous process layout not only increases the risk of bumps and damage to the connectors when they are transferred between processes, but also results in a large floor area, complex interface debugging, and the need for multiple operators to be on duty, resulting in high labor costs and overall manufacturing costs.

[0004] In recent years, although some stand-alone equipment has emerged in the industry for automatic pin insertion, orientation screening, or defective product rejection of connectors, simply adding modules for material feeding and screening, visual imaging, rejection, and packaging still cannot solve the industrial control coordination problem when connectors are continuously flowing at high speeds across multiple workstations. Specifically, there are time differences and waiting states in the action time of each workstation, such as grounding plate insertion, pin pressing, visual verification, defect rejection, and carrier tape stepping. Without a unified PLC virtual workstation queue and interlock control logic, relying solely on the immediate OK / NG signal of a certain inspection station to trigger subsequent rejection or packaging can easily lead to missed rejection, incorrect rejection, or misplacement of defective products into the carrier tape packaging station due to cycle time errors, semi-finished product waiting, carrier tape cavity stepping deviation, or camera reflection misjudgment, thus affecting the reliability of the entire reel of products.

[0005] Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide a fully automated, highly integrated connector assembly, testing, and packaging machine based on an industrial control system to solve a series of technical problems existing in the manual and existing semi-automatic solutions. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The technical problem to be solved by this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide an integrated connector assembly, inspection and packaging machine based on an industrial control system. It aims to solve the problem that the functions of simple orientation screening, visual inspection or defect rejection in existing automatic assembly equipment are independent of each other and cannot keep the status of individual products synchronized between grounding plate insertion, PIN pin pressing, visual verification, defect rejection and carrier tape packaging, resulting in defective products being missed, incorrectly rejected or mistakenly entering the packaging station.

[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the first aspect of this invention proposes a connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system, comprising: Industrial control systems include programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (touchscreens), servo drive interfaces, cylinder solenoid valve I / O interfaces, fiber optic sensor input interfaces, and vision inspection communication interfaces. The feeding mechanism is used for automatic feeding and orientation selection of the rubber cores; An assembly mechanism is located downstream of the feeding mechanism. The assembly mechanism includes a grounding plate insertion mechanism and a pin insertion mechanism. The grounding plate insertion mechanism is used to insert the grounding plate into the rubber core, and the pin insertion mechanism is used to insert continuous pins into the rubber core with the grounding plate already inserted. A visual inspection mechanism is located downstream of the assembly mechanism and is used to perform dimensional and appearance inspections on the semi-finished products after the grounding plates are inserted and the finished products after the pins are inserted. A defect rejection mechanism is located downstream of the visual inspection mechanism and is used to reject products that are determined to be defective after inspection. A packaging mechanism, located downstream of the defect removal mechanism, is used for packaging products that are determined to be OK onto a carrier belt; and a control system is electrically connected to the assembly mechanism, the vision inspection mechanism, the defect removal mechanism, and the packaging mechanism, respectively. The grounding pad insertion mechanism includes a first shifting and positioning component, and the pin insertion mechanism includes a second shifting and positioning component. The first and second shifting and positioning components perform rigid limiting handover without a circulating fixture between the grounding pad insertion station and the pin insertion station. The control system establishes a virtual station queue, binding the station position, grounding pad insertion curve, pin pressing curve, and visual inspection results corresponding to the same core or semi-finished product into a single product status, and advances the virtual station queue according to the station completion signal and the carrier tape stepping signal. When a product marked as NG in the virtual station queue arrives at the defect removal mechanism, the control system drives the defect removal mechanism to perform a rejection action. When a product marked as OK in the virtual station queue arrives at the packaging mechanism, the control system allows the product to enter the carrier tape cavity.

[0008] Optionally, the feeding mechanism, the assembly mechanism, the visual inspection mechanism, the defect removal mechanism, and the packaging mechanism are sequentially integrated on the same frame base plate along the material flow direction, and no independent handling robot or circulating return fixture is provided between the insertion ground piece mechanism and the insertion pin mechanism.

[0009] Optionally, when the material is transferred from the insertion grounding plate mechanism to the insertion pin mechanism, the second shifting and positioning component first moves to the pre-receiving position and forms a limiting support. The control system confirms that the second shifting and positioning component is in place before allowing the pushing component to push the semi-finished product to the second shifting and positioning component, so that the core or semi-finished product is handed over to the same positioning reference between adjacent assembly stations.

[0010] Optionally, the grounding plate insertion mechanism includes a vibratory feeder, a pushing assembly, a left grounding plate strip cutting cylinder, a right grounding plate strip cutting cylinder, a first shifting and positioning assembly, a shifting module servo motor, a left grounding plate insertion servo motor, and a right grounding plate insertion servo motor. The drivers of the left and right grounding plate servo motors collect the insertion stroke, output torque or current signals in real time. The control system converts these signals into a grounding plate insertion force curve and compares it with a pre-stored normal insertion window to determine if the grounding plate is missing material, misaligned or blocked.

[0011] Optionally, the normal insertion window includes at least an initial empty travel area, a resistance increase area where the grounding piece enters the pre-reserved groove of the glue core, and a pressure holding area in place; When the grounding plate insertion force curve exceeds the corresponding threshold in any region, the control system writes the current semi-finished product into the NG status bit and controls the corresponding servo motor to perform a retraction and low-speed re-insertion action, or prevents the semi-finished product from continuing to flow into the packaging mechanism.

[0012] Optionally, the PIN insertion mechanism includes a shifting servo motor, a PIN insertion servo motor, a PIN cutting cylinder, a cam mechanism, and a PIN insertion track; The encoder signal and drive current signal of the PIN insertion servo motor are used to establish the PIN insertion curve. The control system divides a PIN insertion cycle into a feeding confirmation section, a fast advance section, a pressing section, a holding pressure section and a retraction section according to the rotation angle of the cam mechanism. In the pressing section, it determines whether there is missing PIN, PIN bending, hole blockage or semi-finished product positioning based on the current threshold and displacement endpoint.

[0013] Optionally, the visual inspection mechanism includes a first visual inspection unit and a second visual inspection unit. The first visual inspection unit cross-verifies the grounding plate edge image results with the grounding plate insertion force curve. The second visual inspection unit establishes a detection coordinate system using the fixed contour of the glue core edge or the inserted grounding plate, and performs coordinate conversion and consistency comparison on the same terminal features obtained by the horizontal inspection camera and the vertical inspection camera.

[0014] Optionally, when the image confidence of the first visual detection unit is lower than a set threshold and the grounding plate insertion force curve is in the normal insertion window, the control system controls the first visual detection unit to retake the image with another exposure parameter. When the horizontal and vertical inspection cameras in the second vision inspection unit make inconsistent judgments on the same terminal, the control system marks the product as NG for verification and does not allow it to enter the packaging mechanism.

[0015] Optionally, the packaging mechanism includes a carrier tape supply device, a stepper drive device, a reel take-up device, a sealing device, an optical fiber leakage detection device, and an optical fiber stacking detection device. The stepping signal of the stepper drive device is synchronized with the virtual workstation queue. The fiber optic packet loss detection device sends a pulse to the control system every time it successfully identifies a product. The control system verifies the correspondence between OK products and carrier cavities in the virtual workstation queue based on the pulse.

[0016] Optionally, it also includes an alarm module, which is used to issue an alarm signal when it detects missing hardware, abnormal grounding plate insertion force curve, abnormal PIN pin pressing curve, NG visual inspection, missing package, stacked material, material strip exhausted, or the continuous defect ratio of any visual inspection unit exceeds the acceptable threshold, and to display the corresponding fault station on the touch screen.

[0017] The beneficial effects of this invention are: 1. This invention uses a programmable logic controller (PLC) as the core of an industrial control system. Through a data acquisition module, a virtual queue advancement module, and a workstation interlock output module, the status of each core or semi-finished product during the processes of grounding plate insertion, PIN pin pressing, visual inspection, defect removal, carrier tape insertion, and sealing and winding is continuously bound. This allows the OK / NG judgment result of a single product to be transmitted synchronously with the material flow, avoiding the omission, misrejection, or misplacement of defective products in the packaging workstation due to cycle time errors, workstation waiting, or carrier tape stepping deviations.

[0018] 2. This invention uses a PLC to confirm the rigid limit handover state between the first shifting and positioning component and the second shifting and positioning component without the need for a circulating fixture. This allows the core and semi-finished products to complete positioning, shifting, and handover between adjacent assembly stations without relying on repeated turnover of a circulating fixture, thereby reducing the impact of fixture wear, fixture backflow, secondary positioning errors, and fixture contamination on assembly accuracy.

[0019] 3. This invention uses a PLC to collect the stroke, torque, or current signals of the servo motors for inserting the left and right grounding plates to form a grounding plate insertion force curve, and cross-verifies it with the image results of the first vision detection unit. This allows it to identify abnormalities such as missing material, skew, slot blockage, floating height, or false positives due to reflection.

[0020] 4. This invention establishes a PIN pressing curve by acquiring the encoder signal and drive current signal of the PIN insertion servo motor through PLC, and combines it with the second vision detection unit to compare the coordinate consistency of PIN spacing, extension length and coplanarity, thereby improving the reliability of identifying defects such as missing pins, bent pins, blocked holes and mispositioning.

[0021] 5. This invention uses a PLC to synchronously verify the carrier tape stepping signal, the fiber optic packet loss detection pulse, and the virtual workstation queue, ensuring that all products entering the carrier tape cavity are products in the OK bound state, and promptly stopping the machine and alarming when there are abnormalities in packet loss, stacking, or queue correspondence.

[0022] 6. While maintaining the integration of core feeding, grounding plate insertion, PIN pin pressing, visual inspection, defect removal and carrier tape packaging, this invention focuses its creativity on the collaborative control structure of multi-station status binding, station interlocking, rigid limit handover and curve-visual joint judgment in the industrial control system. Compared with simple direction screening, separate rejection mechanism or ordinary visual inspection with light source, this invention has a clearer technical contribution. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the connector assembly, testing and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to the present invention. Figure 2This is a schematic diagram of the feeding mechanism of the connector assembly, testing and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to the present invention. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the insertion grounding plate mechanism of the connector assembly, testing and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to the present invention. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the material rack module of the connector assembly, testing and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to the present invention; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the PIN insertion mechanism of the connector assembly, testing and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to the present invention. Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the CCD camera in the connector assembly, inspection, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to the present invention. Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the packaging mechanism of the connector assembly, testing and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to the present invention.

[0024] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures: 10. Feeding mechanism; 11. Vibratory feeder; 12. Vibratory feeder frame; 13. Vibratory feeder controller; 14. Flat vibration controller; 20. Assembly mechanism; 21. Grounding plate insertion mechanism; 211. Flat vibration feeder; 212. Pushing assembly; 213. Left grounding plate material strip cutter cylinder; 214. Right grounding plate material strip cutter cylinder; 215. First shifting and positioning assembly; 216. Shifting module servo motor; 217. Left grounding plate insertion servo motor; 218. Right grounding plate insertion servo motor; 219. Material rack module; 2191. Left grounding plate release motor; 2192. Right grounding plate release motor. Material motor; 2193, Profile bracket; 22, Pin insertion mechanism; 221, Shift servo motor; 222, Pin insertion servo motor; 223, Pin cutting cylinder; 224, Cam mechanism; 225, Pin insertion track; 226, Second shifting and positioning assembly; 30, Vision inspection mechanism; 31, CCD camera; 33, First vision inspection unit; 34, Second vision inspection unit; 40, Defect removal mechanism; 50, Packaging mechanism; 51, Carrier tape supply device; 52, Stepper drive device; 53, Reel take-up device; 60, Frame base plate; 70, Alarm module.

[0025] The realization of the objective, functional features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed Implementation

[0026] It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

[0027] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "joining" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection, a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0028] Reference Figures 1-7 This invention provides an embodiment of a connector assembly, inspection, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system. This machine automates the entire process of feeding the connector core, inserting the grounding tab, pressing the pins, inspecting the appearance and dimensions, online rejection of defective products, and packaging good products with carrier tape for a specific connector model. The core of the integrated machine's industrial control system is a programmable logic controller (PLC), equipped with a human-machine interface touchscreen. All servo motors, cylinders, fiber optic sensors, position detection switches, and CCD cameras 31 in the equipment are electrically connected to the PLC through corresponding drive modules, I / O interfaces, or visual inspection communication interfaces. The PLC runs a data acquisition module, a virtual queue advancement module, a workstation interlock output module, and an alarm display module. When each connector core enters the grounding tab insertion station, a product serial number and a virtual workstation queue status bit are generated. The subsequent insertion force curve, pressing curve, visual OK / NG result, defect rejection position, and carrier tape stepping position of the product are continuously bound together. The internal program coordinates the interlocking and synchronization of the actions at each workstation.

[0029] The entire equipment is arranged and integrated on the same frame base plate 60 along the main direction of material flow, with the feeding mechanism 10, assembly mechanism 20, vision inspection mechanism 30, defect removal mechanism 40 and packaging mechanism 50 arranged in sequence. This makes the equipment compact in terms of floor space and ensures that the material is transferred between processes without interruption, avoiding bumps and secondary positioning errors caused by the transfer of semi-finished products.

[0030] During machine debugging or daily material changes, operators usually need to confirm the initial zeroing status of each station. Since the integrated machine hard-connects multiple processes to a base plate, the relative positions between the mechanisms are fixed after one leveling, eliminating the need for repeated calibration of the transmission interfaces as with discrete single machines. This can save considerable changeover time in actual mass production.

[0031] Combination Figure 2From the schematic structure, the core of the feeding mechanism 10 is the vibratory feeder 11, which is equipped with a vibratory feeder frame 12, a vibratory feeder controller 13, and a flat vibratory controller 14. The inner wall of the vibratory feeder hopper is equipped with a calculated spiral selection track. The track has directional screening gaps at specific drop points. Cores with incorrect orientation fall back to the bottom of the hopper because their center of gravity exceeds the support boundary. Only cores with the correct orientation for subsequent insertion can enter the flat vibratory feeding track, thus completing automatic feeding and orientation screening. The flat vibratory controller 14 drives the linear feeder, sending cores with uniform orientation to the inlet of the assembly mechanism 20 at a steady pace.

[0032] The assembly mechanism 20 is located downstream of the feeding mechanism 10. It consists of two core modules: a grounding plate insertion mechanism 21 and a pin insertion mechanism 22. Materials first enter the grounding plate insertion mechanism 21 to insert the left and right grounding plates, and then flow to the pin insertion mechanism 22 for pin pressing. There are no independent handling robots or recirculation fixtures between the grounding plate insertion mechanism 21 and the pin insertion mechanism 22. Instead, the stroke of the first shifting and positioning component 215 and the second shifting and positioning component 226 covers the transition area between the two stations, transferring the semi-finished product downstream in a push-and-shift relay manner. The control system maintains the same queue number for the semi-finished product.

[0033] Furthermore, during the process of transferring material from the grounding plate mechanism 21 to the pin insertion mechanism 22, before the first shifting and positioning component 215 releases the workpiece, the second shifting and positioning component 226 first moves to the pre-receiving position and forms a limiting support. The PLC confirms that the second shifting and positioning component 226 is in place before allowing the pushing component 212 to perform downstream pushing. When the second shifting and positioning component 226 is not in place or the photoelectric detection shows no material, the pushing component 212 remains in the retracted state, and the virtual station queue does not advance. Through this interlocking method, rigid limiting handover of the glue core between two assembly stations can be achieved without setting up a circulating fixture and a flipping and conveying mechanism, reducing the terminal or grounding plate misalignment caused by repeated clamping, flipping, or fixture return.

[0034] refer to Figure 3This area provides an enlarged view of the grounding plate insertion mechanism 21. The vibrating feeder 211 directly receives the rubber core from the feeding mechanism 10 and delivers it to the front end of the pushing assembly 212. The pushing assembly 212 works in conjunction with the first shifting and positioning assembly 215: the pushing assembly 212 is driven by a pushing cylinder, and a pushing block is fixed to the end of the piston rod of the cylinder. The surface of the pushing block that contacts the rubber core is covered with a polyurethane gasket to prevent scratching the rubber core body, pushing the rubber core into the insertion station; the first shifting and positioning assembly 215 is then driven by a positioning cylinder to drive a contouring positioning block to hold or press the rubber core. The contouring positioning block is machined with a fitting cavity according to the outer contour of the rubber core, which can restrict its six degrees of freedom from both sides and the top surface of the rubber core. This high-speed positioning and shifting module ensures that the rubber core maintains an absolutely stable posture at the moment of grounding plate insertion, thereby ensuring the insertion position accuracy.

[0035] The shift module servo motor 216 drives the entire first shifting and positioning assembly 215 to move precisely between different positions via a ball screw pair, while the left grounding plate insertion servo motor 217 and the right grounding plate insertion servo motor 218 independently drive the left and right insertion plates, respectively. The grounding plates are fed by the material rack module 219, combined with... Figure 4 The left and right grounding plate feeding motors 2191 and 2192 are mounted on the profile bracket 2193. They release the grounding plate material strip as needed. The material strip is cut to a fixed length by the left and right grounding plate material strip cutting cylinders 213 and 214, forming a single grounding plate to be inserted. The cut grounding plate is then picked up by pneumatic grippers driven by the left and right grounding plate insertion servo motors 217 and 218, respectively, and precisely pressed into the reserved groove on the side of the rubber core along a linear guide groove fixed on the frame. The width of the linear guide groove is clearance-fitted with the thickness of the grounding plate, and its outlet end is strictly aligned with the grounding plate slot on the rubber core to ensure the straightness of the pressing trajectory. When both left and right grounding plates are inserted into place, the workpiece is a semi-finished product.

[0036] Furthermore, the drivers of the left grounding plate servo motor 217 and the right grounding plate servo motor 218 collect the insertion stroke, output torque, or current signal in real time. The PLC converts this into a grounding plate insertion force curve and compares the insertion force curve with a pre-stored normal insertion window. The normal insertion window includes at least the initial empty stroke area, the resistance rise area when the grounding plate enters the pre-reserved slot of the glue core, and the pressure holding area. If abnormal resistance occurs in the empty stroke area, the set peak value is not reached in the resistance rise area, or the displacement in the pressure holding area does not reach the set position, it is judged that the grounding plate is missing material, misaligned, or the slot is blocked. The current semi-finished product is marked as NG, and the servo motor can perform a retraction and low-speed re-insertion action.

[0037] On the exit side of the grounding patch insertion station, a first visual inspection unit 33 is arranged, which includes a first set of CCD cameras 31 and a corresponding light source. The light source is preferably a ring-shaped low-angle LED light source to highlight the edge contour of the grounding patch. This inspection unit captures images of the semi-finished product and uses image processing algorithms to check whether the grounding patch is missing, misaligned, or floating. Once a defect is identified, the signal is transmitted to the control core, and the defective part will be automatically rejected in subsequent defect-sorting stations. Only semi-finished products that pass the initial inspection are allowed to flow to the PIN insertion mechanism 22.

[0038] The detection results of the first visual inspection unit 33 can also be cross-verified with the grounding plate insertion force curve: when the insertion force curve is normal but the image detection shows that the edge of the grounding plate is floating or skewed, the PLC judges the product as visually NG; when the confidence level of the image edge is lower than the set threshold due to reflection and the insertion force curve is in the normal window, the PLC can control the first visual inspection unit 33 to retake the image with another exposure parameter. By combining the force displacement signal and the image signal for judgment, the misjudgment caused by a single detection method can be reduced.

[0039] The pin insertion mechanism 22 receives semi-finished products from the previous process. (Combined) Figure 5The mechanism's operating logic is based on a cam mechanism 224, powered by a PIN insertion servo motor 222. The output shaft of the PIN insertion servo motor 222 is directly connected to the cam shaft via a coupling, eliminating the need for a speed reduction stage and allowing the cam's speed to be adjusted in real time according to the motor. Continuous PIN strips are introduced via a feeding mechanism consisting of a ratchet and a feeding track. The feeding track is equipped with a strip guide groove and an anti-backward ratchet. Each feeding step corresponds to the number of PIN rows required for a single core, and is synchronously driven by a cutting linkage mechanism. A PIN cutting cylinder 223 drives a contour cutter to cut the strip into single segments matching the number of terminals. The cutter position can be manually adjusted manually using a micrometer head according to the number of PIN rows to accommodate different product specifications. Simultaneously, a shift servo motor 221 drives a second shift positioning component 226 to precisely transfer the semi-finished product to the insertion station and lock it in place. A photoelectric sensor along the transfer path monitors whether the semi-finished product has reached the predetermined position. If the semi-finished product fails to reach the predetermined position twice consecutively, the system determines it as a feeding failure and stops the machine. The cam mechanism 224 includes a disc cam with a specific lift curve and a roller follower pressed against it. The roller follower contains a rolling bearing to reduce friction, and a spring or pneumatic mechanism maintains closed contact with the cam profile to ensure no disengagement during high-speed operation. A pusher block that slides along the pin insertion track 225 is connected to the end of the follower. The front end of the pusher block has a pressing surface complementary to the cross-section of the PIN pin tail. One rotation of the cam mechanism 224 drives the pusher block to complete one high-speed cycle of "rapid advance—pressing in—holding pressure—retraction," achieving high-speed pin insertion displacement of the cam and pressing the single PIN pin into the corresponding pin hole of the core, forming the finished product. The cam-servo main motion configuration is advantageous for maintaining a high degree of consistency in the pressing stroke and pressure curve during high-speed continuous production, and the control over the PIN pin insertion depth and perpendicularity is significantly better than purely pneumatic or crank-connecting rod solutions. To improve the service life of the cam mechanism 224, the surface of the disc cam is subjected to high-frequency quenching, and the outer ring of the roller follower is also made of bearing steel and hardened and ground. It is recommended to check the oil film condition of the cam profile surface weekly.

[0040] Furthermore, the encoder signal and drive current signal of the PIN insertion servo motor 222 are used to establish the PIN insertion curve. The PLC divides one insertion cycle into a feeding confirmation section, a fast-forward section, a pressing section, a holding pressure section, and a retraction section according to the rotation angle of the cam mechanism 224. In the pressing section, if the drive current is lower than the lower limit and the displacement reaches the end point, it is determined that there may be a missing PIN; if the drive current is higher than the upper limit and the displacement does not reach the end point, it is determined that there may be a bent PIN, a blocked hole, or a semi-finished product not positioned correctly. When the above abnormalities occur, the PLC stops the next PIN cutting action and writes the corresponding workpiece to the NG status bit to prevent abnormal PINs from continuing to flow into the carrier tape packaging.

[0041] The finished product then enters the second core inspection area of ​​the vision inspection mechanism 30, namely the second vision inspection unit 34. This unit also includes multiple sets of CCD cameras 31 and light sources. In this embodiment, the vision inspection mechanism 30 includes at least one set of horizontal inspection cameras and at least one set of vertical inspection cameras. Each camera is mounted on a bracket with fine-tuning function. The fine-tuning bracket has the following degrees of freedom: X, Y, and Z-axis translation and rotation around the optical axis. The adjustment amount is read by a micrometer head so that the camera can be aligned with the area under test during adjustment. Detailed images of the top, sides, and terminals of the finished product are captured respectively, and dimensional and appearance features such as PIN pin spacing, extension length, coplanarity, and the holding status of the grounding plate are fully inspected. Each set of cameras has a pre-set region of interest within its inspection window, and upper and lower tolerance limits for the corresponding dimensional parameters are set. Exceeding any tolerance zone results in an NG (Not Good) rating. The inspection result is judged as OK or NG in real time. The brightness and exposure time of the light source can be automatically fine-tuned according to the surface reflectivity of the product to prevent misjudgment caused by batch differences in materials.

[0042] Furthermore, when detecting PIN pin spacing, extension length, and coplanarity, the second vision inspection unit 34 first establishes a detection coordinate system using the fixed contour of the core edge or the already inserted grounding plate as a reference contour. Then, it sets the regions of interest (ROIs) for the terminal end, terminal side, and upper edge of the grounding plate within this coordinate system. Features of the same terminal captured by different cameras are converted to coordinates and compared for consistency by the PLC or image processing module. When the judgment results of the horizontal and vertical inspection cameras for the same terminal are inconsistent, the product does not directly enter the packaging mechanism 50 but is marked as NG for verification and the corresponding status position in the virtual workstation queue is locked. This processing method can reduce mis-release caused by slight product swaying, carrier gaps, or surface reflection.

[0043] Following the visual inspection mechanism 30 is the defect removal mechanism 40, which consists of a PLC-controlled air nozzle and a collection box. The air nozzle is fixed to the side of the main conveyor track, with its air outlet facing the defective product inlet located on the other side of the track. When the virtual workstation queue displays a non-compliant product running directly in front of the air nozzle, the PLC controls a miniature solenoid valve to open the compressed air passage. The air nozzle completes one blow within a pulse time of no more than 50 milliseconds, and the compressed air blows the defective product away from the main track and collects it into the defective product box. If the queue position is inconsistent with the photoelectric arrival signal, the PLC prohibits the rejection action and triggers an alarm to avoid mistakenly rejecting adjacent good products.

[0044] Optionally, for particularly lightweight products, the air-blowing rejection can be replaced by a swing arm lever or vacuum nozzle for pickup rejection to ensure the reliability of the operation. Regardless of whether air blowing, lever picking, or suction is used, the rejection action is triggered by the NG status bit in the virtual workstation queue and the defective product rejection signal. Only good products that are determined to be OK by the queue are then conveyed to the packaging mechanism 50.

[0045] The structural layout of packaging mechanism 50 can be referenced. Figure 7 The front end of the mechanism is equipped with a carrier tape supply device 51, including a non-powered feeding roller that carries the carrier tape reel and a guide roller assembly that guides the carrier tape to unfold straight. The stepper drive device 52 consists of a stepper motor, a synchronous belt, and a pin wheel. The pins on the pin wheel engage with the conveying holes on both sides of the carrier tape, driving the carrier tape forward precisely in a fixed-length step manner. After each step, the stepper drive device 52 sends a step completion signal to the PLC, which then advances the carrier tape cavity position in the virtual workstation queue, allowing only products in the queue with an OK status and that have reached the cavity entry position to be sent into the corresponding cavity. The rear reel take-up device 53 neatly winds the sealed carrier tape.

[0046] The sealing device itself is a cold-sealing device, meaning that at room temperature, a pair of pressure-adjustable, surface-hardened metal rollers press the cover tape and carrier tape together. The distance between the upper and lower rollers is set by a set of precision adjusting screws, each marked with a graduation corresponding to the amount of gap change, facilitating quick reset when changing cover tapes of different thicknesses. Considering that some customers have higher requirements for sealing performance, the packaging mechanism also has a heat-sealing interface, allowing for the addition of a heat-sealing module for secondary sealing or replacement with a heat-sealing solution; this is an optional configuration.

[0047] Along the path before and after sealing, a fiber optic packet loss detection device and a fiber optic stacking detection device continuously monitor the area. Both devices employ through-beam fiber optic sensors, with the transmitting and receiving fiber heads mounted on the upper and lower sides of the carrier tape cavity, respectively. When the unsealed carrier tape passes through this area, if there is a product inside the cavity, the light flux detected by the receiver will be significantly lower than in an empty cavity; conversely, a packet loss alarm will be triggered. Stacking detection utilizes the change in fiber optic obstruction caused by the cumulative thickness of the product to determine the issue. Simultaneously, each time a fiber optic packet loss detection device successfully identifies a product, it sends a pulse to the PLC. The PLC uses this pulse to verify the one-to-one correspondence between OK products in the virtual workstation queue and the carrier tape cavity. If the queue indicates there should be an OK product but the fiber optic cable does not detect a product, or if the fiber optic cable detects a stacking signal, the system immediately stops and an alarm sounds.

[0048] Optionally, the PLC's data storage area can save product serial number, workstation number, defect type, grounding tab insertion force curve judgment result, PIN pin pressing curve judgment result, visual inspection result, rejection action record, and carrier tape entry confirmation pulse. Operators can query the above records through the human-machine interface touch screen for shift statistics, fault tracing, and process parameter adjustment. When the equipment is restarted after a power outage, the PLC performs queue restoration or prompts manual material clearing based on the most recent valid queue status and the arrival signals of each workstation, preventing incorrect rejection or incorrect packaging after power failure.

[0049] It should be understood that the monitoring of the overall machine operation status is centrally handled by the alarm module 70. When missing, incomplete, or stacked hardware parts are detected, or any material strip is exhausted, or any set of visual inspection units continuously detects defective parts exceeding the acceptable proportion, the alarm module 70 will drive the three-color warning light to flash and trigger the buzzer, while simultaneously displaying a prompt window for the specific faulty workstation on the touchscreen. In this way, the equipment can achieve comprehensive automatic alarms for material shortages, incomplete installations, stacked materials, and material strip depletion, without requiring constant personnel monitoring. In addition, the touchscreen also has a historical alarm record viewing interface, allowing operators to trace the time, type, and workstation where the fault occurred, to assist in fault trend analysis and preventive maintenance.

[0050] The complete workflow of the equipment during continuous operation can be summarized as follows: the rubber core is automatically aligned from the vibratory feeder and fed into the grounding plate insertion mechanism 21 via the flat vibrating track; the first shifting and positioning component 215 holds the rubber core, the material rack module 219 releases the material, the cutting cylinder cuts the grounding plate, and the servo motor inserts the left and right grounding plates into place respectively; the first vision inspection unit 33 performs a preliminary inspection of the semi-finished products, and the defective products are removed by the defect removal mechanism 40; the qualified semi-finished products flow into the PIN insertion mechanism 22, and after being repositioned, the cam-driven mechanism presses the cut continuous PIN pins into the rubber core; the finished products undergo a multi-angle dimensional and appearance inspection by the second vision inspection unit 34, and the NG products are rejected; finally, the good products are loaded into the carrier tape, and after automatic counting and missing / overlapping detection to confirm that there are no errors, they are cold-sealed and rolled into a coil. Throughout the process, the completion signal of any workstation is fed back to the PLC as a necessary condition for starting the next workstation. This forms a closed-loop action interlock chain of the industrial control system, ensuring that the machine will not run idle or misaligned when there is a material shortage, jamming, or abnormal detection.

[0051] In one variation, the servo motor-driven lead screw used in the aforementioned first shifting and positioning component 215 and second shifting and positioning component 226 can be replaced with a direct linear motor drive, especially in scenarios with extremely high cycle time requirements. While this replacement increases cost, it further shortens the shifting time and reduces backlash in the transmission system. Furthermore, the defect removal mechanism 40 can also use a swing arm suction method instead of air blowing for rejection. For lightweight, miniature products, the suction method avoids the problem of uncontrolled blowing.

[0052] In another variation, the left grounding sheet cutting cylinder 213 and the right grounding sheet cutting cylinder 214 used for cutting the material strip in the grounding sheet insertion mechanism 21, and the PIN cutting cylinder 223 used for cutting the PIN pins in the PIN insertion mechanism 22, can be entirely or partially replaced with electric cylinders driving the cutters, depending on the factory's compressed air supply conditions. The electric cylinder solution eliminates the dependence on air source stability and allows for precise control of cutting speed and return wait time through servo parameters; however, it increases cost and size accordingly. Therefore, a trade-off should be made based on the actual conditions of the production line.

[0053] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structural or procedural transformations made based on the content of the present invention's specification and drawings, or direct or indirect applications in other related technical fields, are similarly included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system, characterized in that, include: Industrial control systems include programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (touchscreens), servo drive interfaces, cylinder solenoid valve I / O interfaces, fiber optic sensor input interfaces, and vision inspection communication interfaces. The feeding mechanism (10) is used for automatic feeding and orientation screening of the rubber core; Assembly mechanism (20) is located downstream of the feeding mechanism (10). Assembly mechanism (20) includes grounding plate insertion mechanism (21) and pin insertion mechanism (22). Grounding plate insertion mechanism (21) is used to insert grounding plate into the core, and pin insertion mechanism (22) is used to insert continuous pins into the core with grounding plate installed. A visual inspection mechanism (30) is located downstream of the assembly mechanism (20) and is used to inspect the size and appearance of the semi-finished product after inserting the ground piece and the finished product after inserting the pin. A defect rejection mechanism (40) is located downstream of the visual inspection mechanism (30) and is used to reject products that are determined to be defective after inspection. The packaging mechanism (50) is located downstream of the defect removal mechanism (40) and is used to package products that are determined to be OK onto a carrier belt; and the control system is electrically connected to the assembly mechanism (20), the vision inspection mechanism (30), the defect removal mechanism (40) and the packaging mechanism (50), respectively. The grounding pad insertion mechanism (21) includes a first shifting and positioning component (215), and the pin insertion mechanism (22) includes a second shifting and positioning component (226). The first shifting and positioning component (215) and the second shifting and positioning component (226) perform rigid limiting handover without a circulating fixture between the grounding pad insertion station and the pin insertion station. The control system establishes a virtual station queue, binds the station position, grounding pad insertion curve, pin pressing curve and visual inspection result corresponding to the same core or semi-finished product into a single product state, and advances the virtual station queue according to the station completion signal and the carrier tape stepping signal. When a product marked as NG in the virtual station queue arrives at the defect removal mechanism (40), the control system drives the defect removal mechanism (40) to perform a rejection action. When a product marked as OK in the virtual station queue arrives at the packaging mechanism (50), the control system allows the product to enter the carrier tape cavity.

2. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The feeding mechanism (10), the assembly mechanism (20), the visual inspection mechanism (30), the defect removal mechanism (40), and the packaging mechanism (50) are sequentially integrated on the same frame base plate (60) along the material flow direction, and no independent handling robot or circulating return fixture is provided between the insertion ground piece mechanism (21) and the insertion pin mechanism (22).

3. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the material is transferred from the insertion grounding plate mechanism (21) to the insertion pin mechanism (22), the second shifting and positioning component (226) moves to the pre-receiving position and forms a limiting support. The control system confirms that the second shifting and positioning component (226) is in place before allowing the pushing component (212) to push the semi-finished product to the second shifting and positioning component (226), so that the core or semi-finished product can be handed over to the same positioning reference between adjacent assembly stations.

4. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The grounding plate insertion mechanism (21) includes a vibrating feeder (211), a pushing assembly (212), a left grounding plate strip cutting cylinder (213), a right grounding plate strip cutting cylinder (214), a first shifting and positioning assembly (215), a shifting module servo motor (216), a left grounding plate insertion servo motor (217), and a right grounding plate insertion servo motor (218). The drivers of the left grounding plate servo motor (217) and the right grounding plate servo motor (218) collect the insertion stroke, output torque or current signal in real time. The control system converts it into a grounding plate insertion force curve and compares it with the pre-stored normal insertion window to determine whether the grounding plate is missing material, skewed or blocked in the slot.

5. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The normal insertion window includes at least the initial empty travel area, the resistance increase area when the grounding piece enters the reserved groove of the glue core, and the pressure holding area when in place; When the grounding plate insertion force curve exceeds the corresponding threshold in any region, the control system writes the current semi-finished product into the NG status bit and controls the corresponding servo motor to perform retraction and low-speed re-insertion actions, or prevents the semi-finished product from continuing to flow into the packaging mechanism (50).

6. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The PIN insertion mechanism (22) includes a shift servo motor (221), a PIN insertion servo motor (222), a PIN cutting cylinder (223), a cam mechanism (224), and a PIN insertion track (225). The encoder signal and drive current signal of the PIN insertion servo motor (222) are used to establish the PIN insertion curve. The control system divides a PIN insertion cycle into a feeding confirmation section, a fast advance section, a pressing section, a holding pressure section and a retraction section according to the rotation angle of the cam mechanism (224). In the pressing section, the system determines whether there is a missing PIN, a bent PIN, a blocked hole or a semi-finished product not in position based on the current threshold and the displacement endpoint.

7. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The visual inspection mechanism (30) includes a first visual inspection unit (33) and a second visual inspection unit (34). The first visual inspection unit (33) cross-verifies the grounding plate edge image result with the grounding plate insertion force curve. The second visual inspection unit (34) establishes a detection coordinate system using the fixed contour of the glue core edge or the inserted grounding plate, and performs coordinate conversion and consistency comparison on the same terminal features obtained by the horizontal inspection camera and the vertical inspection camera.

8. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 7, characterized in that, When the image confidence of the first visual detection unit (33) is lower than the set threshold and the grounding plate insertion force curve is in the normal insertion window, the control system controls the first visual detection unit (33) to retake the image with another exposure parameter. When the horizontal and vertical detection cameras in the second vision detection unit (34) make inconsistent judgments on the same terminal, the control system marks the product as NG for verification and does not allow it to enter the packaging mechanism (50).

9. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The packaging mechanism (50) includes a carrier tape supply device (51), a stepper drive device (52), a reel take-up device (53), a sealing device, an optical fiber leakage detection device, and an optical fiber stacking detection device. The stepping signal of the stepper drive device (52) is synchronized with the virtual workstation queue. The fiber optic packet loss detection device sends a pulse to the control system every time it successfully identifies a product. The control system verifies the correspondence between the OK products in the virtual workstation queue and the carrier cavity based on the pulse.

10. The connector assembly, testing, and packaging integrated machine based on an industrial control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes an alarm module (70), which is used to issue an alarm signal when it detects missing hardware, abnormal grounding plate insertion force curve, abnormal PIN pin pressing curve, NG visual inspection, missing package, stacked material, material strip exhausted, or the continuous defect ratio of any visual inspection unit exceeds the acceptable threshold, and to display the corresponding fault station on the touch screen.

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