A coin cell tray system

Abstract

The application discloses a button cell tray loading system and relates to the technical field of automatic battery production equipment.The system comprises a tray conveying line, a tray loading mechanism and a vertical storage stacking mechanism.The tray loading mechanism is arranged at one end of the tray conveying line and comprises a loading bin, a material moving assembly, a lifting assembly and a grabbing assembly.The loading bin is provided with a material placing chamber and a loading chamber.The material moving assembly pushes the stacked empty trays in the material placing chamber to the loading chamber.The lifting assembly lifts the empty trays to a material taking height.The grabbing assembly grabs the empty trays and places them on the tray conveying line.The vertical storage stacking mechanism is arranged at the other end of the tray conveying line and comprises a support frame, a jacking cylinder and a turning plate.The jacking cylinder jacks up the trays from the tray conveying line.The turning plate is rotatably arranged on the support frame and is used for supporting the jacked-up trays to realize layer-by-layer stacking.The application realizes automatic loading of empty button cell trays and automatic stacking of full trays, and has high automation degree and stable and reliable operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of automated battery production equipment technology, and in particular to a button cell battery tray loading system. Background Technology

[0002] Button batteries are widely used in electronic watches, hearing aids, calculators, car remote keys, and various microelectronic devices due to their small size, high capacity, and stable discharge performance. With the increasing prevalence and rapid pace of technological advancements in electronic products, the market demand for button batteries is growing daily, leading to ever-increasing requirements for automation and intelligence in battery production.

[0003] In the packaging and production process of button batteries, the completed or inspected button batteries need to be neatly arranged into a dedicated button battery tray (also known as a blister tray or material tray) for subsequent packaging, storage, and transportation. Traditional button battery tray loading is mostly done manually, with operators using tweezers or a suction pen to pick up the batteries one by one and place them into the corresponding slots on the tray. This manual loading method has several drawbacks: firstly, manual operation is inefficient and cannot meet the needs of large-scale mass production; secondly, prolonged repetitive work can easily lead to visual fatigue and hand strain for operators, making it difficult to guarantee loading accuracy and consistency; and thirdly, manual contact with the battery surface can easily cause scratches or contamination of the battery's metal casing, affecting the product's appearance quality and the stability of its electrical performance.

[0004] To address the aforementioned issues, some manufacturers have begun experimenting with automated equipment to replace manual tray loading. Currently available automated tray loading equipment for button batteries typically uses a robotic arm or an XYZ three-axis motion platform in conjunction with a vacuum nozzle to pick up batteries from the battery conveyor line and then move them to the tray for placement via a servo motor. However, these existing automated tray loading devices still have the following shortcomings: First, there's the issue of mismatch between the battery spacing and the tray slot spacing. Button batteries are typically arranged closely together on the conveyor line, with adjacent batteries in contact with each other. However, the placement slots in the button battery tray have a certain gap between them to allow for handling by robotic arms or nozzles. Existing equipment generally uses a method of picking up and placing individual batteries one by one, or a vision positioning system combined with multi-axis servo drives for individual correction and placement. The former is extremely inefficient, while the latter is costly and has complex control algorithms.

[0005] Secondly, in some existing multi-nozzle simultaneous loading and unloading solutions, the spacing between the nozzles is mostly fixed. When it is necessary to change to different specifications of material trays, that is, when the horizontal and vertical spacing of the placement slots are different, the equipment often needs to replace the nozzle mounting plate or make complex mechanical adjustments. This results in poor versatility, long changeover time, and difficulty in adapting to the flexible production needs of multiple varieties and small batches.

[0006] Third, in existing equipment, the connection between auxiliary processes such as material feeding, conveying, and palletizing and the main process of palletizing is not close enough. Each process is often independent of the others, and there is a lack of an integrated automatic solution for the entire process from empty pallet feeding to full pallet pallet palletizing. This results in large equipment footprint, many intermediate transfer links, and low overall operating efficiency.

[0007] To address the aforementioned issues, there is currently no fully integrated automatic loading and unloading system for button battery trays that can achieve automatic loading of empty trays, automatic conveying, and automatic stacking of full trays. This invention achieves automatic loading of stacked empty trays one by one through the coordinated operation of a material transfer component, a lifting component, and a gripping component. Furthermore, it achieves automatic stacking of full trays layer by layer through the cooperation of a lifting cylinder and a flip plate. This effectively solves the technical problems of existing equipment's reliance on manual labor and low efficiency in the loading and unloading process. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The purpose of this invention is to provide a button battery tray system in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0009] The present invention achieves the above objectives through the following technical solutions: A button battery tray loading system includes a tray conveyor line, a tray loading mechanism, a variable-pitch tray loading mechanism, and a vertical stacking mechanism. The tray conveyor line is used for conveying button battery trays. The tray loading mechanism is located at one end of the tray conveyor line and includes a loading bin, a transferring component, a lifting component, and a gripping component. The loading bin has a discharge chamber for storing stacked empty trays and a loading chamber connected to the discharge chamber. The transferring component pushes the empty trays in the discharge chamber one by one to the loading chamber. The lifting component raises the empty trays in the loading chamber to a picking height. The gripping component... The mechanism picks up the lifted empty tray and places it on the tray conveyor line; the variable-pitch tray loading mechanism is used to load button batteries into the empty button battery tray; the vertical storage stacking mechanism is located at the other end of the tray conveyor line away from the tray feeding mechanism. The vertical storage stacking mechanism includes a support frame, a lifting cylinder, and a flip plate. The support frame has a cavity in the middle for stacking button battery trays upwards. The lifting cylinder is located below the tray conveyor line and is used to lift the trays upwards from the tray conveyor line. The flip plate is rotatably located on the upper surface of the support frame at a position corresponding to the cavity and is used to support the trays lifted by the lifting cylinder.

[0010] Preferably, the material tray conveying line includes a first conveying frame, the upper part of which is configured as a horizontal frame structure. A first driving belt roller is installed on both sides of one end of the upper part of the first conveying frame, and a first driven belt roller is installed on both sides of the other end. A first conveyor belt is sleeved on the first driving belt roller and the first driven roller on the same side. The two first driving belt rollers are coaxially connected by a rotating shaft. A first conveying motor for driving the first driving belt roller to rotate is fixedly installed on the first conveying frame.

[0011] Preferably, the material transfer component of the material tray feeding mechanism includes a material transfer cylinder fixedly installed on the side of the feeding bin corresponding to the discharging chamber, and a material transfer plate fixedly connected to the moving end of the material transfer cylinder. The material transfer plate extends into the discharging chamber and is used to push the empty tray at the bottom of the discharging chamber to the feeding chamber. The lifting component includes a feeding frame fixedly installed at the lower part of the feeding bin, a lifting slider engaged on the side of the feeding frame, a feeding tray fixedly connected to the lifting slider via an L-shaped connecting plate, a vertically arranged feeding screw, and a fixed... A feeding motor is installed on the feeding rack to drive the feeding screw to rotate. The feeding tray is positioned below the feeding chamber. The lifting slider is threadedly connected to the feeding screw. The gripping assembly includes a gripping rack fixedly installed on the upper part of the feeding bin, a gripping slider slidably disposed on the upper end of the gripping rack, a gripping cylinder fixedly installed on the gripping slider, a first vacuum suction cup fixedly installed on the moving end of the gripping cylinder, and a first drive mechanism installed on the gripping rack to push the gripping slider to slide.

[0012] Preferably, the support frame of the vertical palletizing mechanism is fixedly installed with vertically extending vertical frames at the four corners of the cavity, and the vertical frames are used to guide and limit the palletizing. The movable end of the flip plate extends to the cavity. The lifting cylinder is located below the two conveyor belts of the pallet conveying line, and the movable end of the lifting cylinder can pass through the gap between the two conveyor belts when it extends upward.

[0013] Preferably, the system further includes a battery conveying line, which includes a second conveying frame. A second driven belt roller and a second driving belt roller are respectively installed at both ends of the second conveying frame. A second conveyor belt is sleeved on the second driven belt roller and the second driving belt roller. A second conveying motor for driving the second driving belt roller to rotate is also installed on the second conveying frame.

[0014] Preferably, the variable pitch loading mechanism is located in the middle of the tray conveyor line and is used to load button batteries into the button battery tray on the tray conveyor line; the variable pitch loading mechanism includes a lateral variable pitch mechanism and a longitudinal variable pitch mechanism.

[0015] Preferably, the lateral pitch mechanism includes a stop block disposed at the end of the battery conveyor line and a pusher cylinder disposed on one side of the end of the battery conveyor line. A pusher plate is fixedly installed on the moving end of the pusher cylinder. A lateral slide is installed on the side of the end of the battery conveyor line away from the pusher cylinder. The lateral slide has trays of the same number as the number of battery placement slots in the lateral direction of the button battery tray. The tray closest to the end of the battery conveyor line is fixedly connected to the lateral slide, and the remaining trays are slidably disposed. A first support spring is installed between adjacent trays. A clamping cylinder for pushing the trays to slide is installed on the side of the lateral slide. When the trays are in the free support state of the first support spring, the spacing between them is equal to the spacing between the battery placement slots in the lateral direction of the button battery tray. When the clamping cylinder pushes and clamps the trays, the upper surface of the tray forms a groove structure with an opening only on the side closest to the battery conveyor line. The width of the groove is equal to the sum of the widths of the number of batteries in the lateral battery placement slots of the button battery tray, and the length of the groove is equal to the sum of the widths of the number of batteries in the longitudinal battery placement slots of the button battery tray. The upper surface of the tray, the upper surface of the battery conveyor line, and the lower surface of the pusher plate are on the same plane.

[0016] Preferably, the longitudinal pitch-changing mechanism includes a translation frame fixedly installed at the docking position of the battery conveyor line and the tray conveyor line. The upper end of the translation frame is provided with a horizontally slidable translation slider. A second drive mechanism for pushing the translation slider is also installed on the translation frame. A lifting cylinder is installed on the translation slider. A longitudinal slide is installed on the lower moving end of the lifting cylinder. The lower part of the longitudinal slide has a number of suction frames equal to the number of battery placement slots in the longitudinal direction of the button battery tray. The suction frame closest to the end of the tray conveyor line is fixedly connected to the longitudinal slide, while the remaining suction frames are slidably arranged. Adjacent suction frames... A second support spring is installed between the frames, and a tensioning cylinder for pulling the suction frame to slide is installed on the longitudinal slide block; the spacing between the suction frames when they are in the free support state of the second support spring is equal to the spacing between the battery placement slots in the longitudinal direction of the button battery tray, and the spacing between the suction frames when they are tensioned to the limit position by the tensioning cylinder is equal to the diameter of a single button battery, so that the position of the second vacuum suction cup corresponds one-to-one with the position of the batteries that are closely arranged on the tray; a second vacuum suction cup is installed at intervals on each suction frame, and the number and position of the second vacuum suction cups on each suction frame correspond to the number and position of the transverse placement slots of the button battery tray.

[0017] Preferably, when the clamping cylinder pushes the tray to the clamping state, the pushing cylinder pushes the button batteries on the battery conveying line into the groove one by one until the groove is filled with the same number of batteries as the longitudinal placement slots of the button battery tray. Then, the clamping cylinder releases, and the first support spring drives each tray to return to the free support state, so that the lateral spacing of the batteries on each tray is consistent with the lateral placement slot spacing of the button battery tray.

[0018] Preferably, the system also includes a method for loading button batteries onto a tray, employing the automatic button battery tray loading and unloading system described in any of the above claims, comprising the following steps: S1: The tray loading step involves the tray loading mechanism taking out the stacked empty button battery trays one by one and placing them on the tray conveyor line. The material transfer component of the tray loading mechanism pushes the empty trays in the feeding chamber one by one to the loading chamber. The lifting component raises the empty trays in the loading chamber to the picking height. The gripping component grips the raised empty trays and places them on the tray conveyor line. S2: Tray conveying step, wherein the tray conveying line conveys the empty button battery trays forward to the tray loading station; S3: Palletizing step. After the full button battery tray is loaded, it is transported to the vertical warehouse palletizing mechanism by the tray conveyor line. The lifting cylinder of the vertical warehouse palletizing mechanism lifts the tray upward from the tray conveyor line. After the tray passes through the cavity of the support frame and over the flip plate, the flip plate rotates to a horizontal state to support the tray, completing the layer-by-layer palletizing.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: First, through the coordinated operation of the material transfer component, lifting component and gripping component in the material tray feeding mechanism, the automatic separation, lifting and feeding of stacked empty trays is realized, replacing the traditional manual tray picking and placing operation, and improving the feeding efficiency and automation level.

[0020] Secondly, through the cooperation of the lifting cylinder and the flip plate in the vertical warehouse palletizing mechanism, the automatic lifting and layer-by-layer palletizing of the full pallet after loading is realized, resulting in high palletizing neatness and facilitating subsequent packaging and storage.

[0021] Third, the material tray feeding mechanism, material tray conveyor line and vertical warehouse stacking mechanism are connected end to end, forming a complete closed loop of loading and unloading from empty tray automatic feeding to full tray automatic stacking, reducing intermediate manual transfer links and effectively improving the overall line operating efficiency and automation level.

[0022] Fourth, the loading and unloading system can operate independently of the tray loading equipment, or it can be used in conjunction with the variable pitch tray loading mechanism. The overall structure is compact, the control is simple, and the equipment cost is low. Attached Figure Description

[0023] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0024] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of a button battery tray system according to the present invention.

[0025] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of a button battery tray system according to the present invention from another perspective.

[0026] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional structural view of the tray conveying line and the vertical warehouse palletizing mechanism of the button battery packing system described in this invention.

[0027] Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the material tray feeding mechanism of the button battery tray system described in this invention.

[0028] Figure 5 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the lateral pitch-changing mechanism of the button battery tray system described in this invention.

[0029] Figure 6 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the longitudinal pitch-changing mechanism of the button battery tray system described in this invention.

[0030] The annotations in the attached figures are explained as follows: 1. Material tray conveyor line; 11. First conveyor frame; 12. First driven belt roller; 13. First driving belt roller; 14. Rotating shaft; 15. First conveyor motor; 16. First conveyor belt; 2. Material tray loading mechanism; 21. Loading bag; 22. Transfer cylinder; 23. Transfer plate; 24. Loading frame; 25. Loading motor; 27. Loading tray; 28. Grabbing frame; 29. ​​Grabbing slider; 210. Grabbing cylinder; 211. First vacuum suction cup; 3. Battery conveyor line; 31. Second conveyor frame; 32. Second driven belt roller; 33. Second driving belt roller; 3 4. Second conveyor motor; 35. Second conveyor belt; 4. Variable pitch palletizing mechanism; 41. Lateral variable pitch mechanism; 411. Pushing cylinder; 412. Pushing plate; 413. Lateral slide; 414. Pallet; 415. Tightening cylinder; 42. Longitudinal variable pitch mechanism; 421. Translation frame; 422. Translation slider; 423. Lifting cylinder; 424. Longitudinal slide; 425. Tensioning cylinder; 426. Suction frame; 427. Second vacuum suction cup; 5. Vertical warehouse stacking mechanism; 51. Support frame; 52. Flip plate; 53. Vertical warehouse frame; 54. Lifting cylinder. Detailed Implementation

[0031] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention. In addition, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first," "second," etc., may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this invention, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0032] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation", "connection", and "linking" 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 or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal connection of two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention can be understood through the specific circumstances.

[0033] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings: like Figures 1-6 As shown, a button battery tray loading system includes a tray conveyor line 1, a tray loading mechanism 2, a battery conveyor line 3, a variable-pitch tray loading mechanism 4, and a vertical stacking mechanism 5. The tray loading mechanism 2 is located at one end of the tray conveyor line 1 and is used to automatically load empty button battery trays onto the tray conveyor line 1. The variable-pitch tray loading mechanism 4 is located in the middle of the tray conveyor line 1 and is used to pick up button batteries from the battery conveyor line 3 and load them into button battery trays. The vertical stacking mechanism 5 is located at the other end of the tray conveyor line 1, away from the tray loading mechanism 2, and is used to stack and collect the loaded button battery trays.

[0034] like Figure 3As shown, the material tray conveyor line 1 includes a first conveyor frame 11, the upper part of which is configured as a horizontally extending frame structure. First drive rollers 13 are rotatably mounted on both sides of one end of the upper part of the first conveyor frame 11, and first driven rollers 12 are rotatably mounted on both sides of the other end. A first conveyor belt 16 is fitted onto the first drive rollers 13 and the first driven rollers 12 on the same side. The two first drive rollers 13 are coaxially and fixedly connected by a rotating shaft 14 to achieve synchronous rotation. A first conveyor motor 15 is fixedly mounted on the first conveyor frame 11. The output end of the first conveyor motor 15 is connected to the rotating shaft 14 through a transmission mechanism to drive the first drive rollers 13 to rotate, thereby driving the first conveyor belt 16 to operate and achieve smooth conveying of the button battery trays placed on it. This transmission mechanism can be a chain drive or a belt drive.

[0035] like Figure 4 As shown, the material tray feeding mechanism 2 includes a feeding bin 21, inside which are a discharge chamber and a feeding chamber that are interconnected. The discharge chamber has an opening on its side for placing empty material trays, allowing operators or automatic feeding equipment to place stacked empty button battery trays into the discharge chamber. The feeding chamber has openings at both the top and bottom to facilitate the vertical movement and removal of the material trays. A transfer cylinder 22 is fixedly installed on the side of the feeding bin 21 corresponding to the discharge chamber. The moving end of the transfer cylinder 22 extends into the discharge chamber and is fixedly connected to a transfer plate 23. When the transfer cylinder 22 extends, the transfer plate 23 pushes the empty material trays from the discharge chamber to the feeding chamber.

[0036] A vertically mounted feeding frame 24 is fixedly installed at the lower part of the feeding hopper 21. A lifting slider that can slide up and down along the feeding frame 24 is fitted on the side of the feeding frame 24. A feeding tray 27 is fixedly connected to the lifting slider through an L-shaped connecting plate. The feeding tray 27 is positioned below the feeding chamber and is used to hold the empty tray of the feeding chamber. A vertically mounted feeding screw is threaded through the lifting slider. A feeding motor 25 is fixedly installed on the feeding frame 24. The output end of the feeding motor 25 is connected to the feeding screw to drive the feeding screw to rotate, thereby driving the lifting slider and the feeding tray 27 to move up and down along the feeding frame 24.

[0037] A material gripping frame 28 is fixedly installed on the upper part of the feeding hopper 21. A material gripping slider 29 that can slide left and right is installed on the upper end of the material gripping frame 28. A first drive mechanism for driving the material gripping slider 29 to slide left and right is also installed on the material gripping frame 28. The first drive mechanism can be a rodless cylinder, a synchronous belt module, or a lead screw module. A material gripping cylinder 210 is fixedly installed on the material gripping slider 29. A first vacuum suction cup 211 is fixedly installed on the downwardly extending moving end of the material gripping cylinder 210. During operation, the material gripping cylinder 210 drives the first vacuum suction cup 211 to descend and suck up the empty material tray pushed to the position by the transfer plate 23 from the opening above the feeding chamber. Then the material gripping cylinder 210 retracts, and the material gripping slider 29 drives the first vacuum suction cup 211 and the empty material tray to slide above the starting end of the material tray conveyor line 1. The first vacuum suction cup 211 breaks the vacuum and releases the material tray, placing the empty material tray on the first conveyor belt 16.

[0038] like Figure 2 As shown, the battery conveyor line 3 includes a second conveyor frame 31. A second driven roller 32 and a second driven roller 33 are rotatably mounted at both ends of the second conveyor frame 31. A second conveyor belt 35 is fitted onto the second driven roller 32 and the second driven roller 33. A second conveyor motor 34 is also fixedly mounted on the second conveyor frame 31. The output end of the second conveyor motor 34 is connected to the second driven roller 33 for driving the second conveyor belt 35 to rotate, sequentially conveying the button batteries from the previous process to the material handling position of the variable-pitch tray mechanism 4.

[0039] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the variable pitch loading mechanism 4 includes a lateral variable pitch mechanism 41 and a longitudinal variable pitch mechanism 42.

[0040] like Figure 5As shown, the lateral pitch-changing mechanism 41 includes a stop block located at the end of the battery conveyor line 3. This stop block is used to prevent the batteries from continuing to advance and is fixedly installed at the end of the second conveyor frame 31. The lateral pitch-changing mechanism 41 also includes a pusher cylinder 411 located on one side of the end of the battery conveyor line 3. A pusher plate 412 is fixedly installed on the moving end of the pusher cylinder 411. When the pusher cylinder 411 extends, the pusher plate 412 pushes out a row of batteries at the end of the battery conveyor line 3 laterally, which is a horizontal direction perpendicular to the battery conveying direction. A lateral slide block 413 is fixedly installed on the side of the end of the battery conveyor line 3 away from the pusher cylinder 411. Multiple trays 414 are slidably arranged on the lateral slide block 413. The number of trays 414 is the same as the number of battery placement slots in the lateral direction of the button battery tray, which is the width direction of the tray. The tray 414 closest to the end of the battery conveyor line 3 is fixedly connected to the lateral slide block 413, and the remaining trays 414 are slidably arranged on the lateral slide block 413. A first support spring is installed between two adjacent trays 414. In its free state, the first support spring maintains the distance between adjacent trays 414 equal to the distance between the battery placement slots in the lateral direction of the button battery tray. A clamping cylinder 415 is also installed on the side of the lateral slide block 413. The moving end of the clamping cylinder 415 abuts against the tray 414 furthest from the end of the battery conveyor line 3, which is used to push all trays 414 to slide along the lateral slide block 413.

[0041] When the trays 414 are pushed and tightened by the clamping cylinder 415, the trays 414 come closer together, and their upper surfaces together form a groove structure that opens only towards the side of the battery conveying line 3. The width of the groove is equal to the sum of the widths of the batteries in the transverse battery placement slots of the button battery tray, and this width is the dimension along the tray arrangement direction. The length of the groove is equal to the sum of the widths of the batteries in the longitudinal battery placement slots of the button battery tray, and this length is the dimension along the battery conveying direction. The bottom surface of the groove, the upper surface of the second conveyor belt 35 of the battery conveying line 3, and the lower surface of the pusher plate 412 are located in the same horizontal plane to ensure that the pusher cylinder 411 can smoothly push the batteries from the second conveyor belt 35 into the groove of the tray 414.

[0042] like Figure 6As shown, the longitudinal pitch-changing mechanism 42 includes a translation frame 421 fixedly installed at the docking position of the battery conveyor line 3 and the tray conveyor line 1. A translation slider 422 that can slide horizontally is provided at the upper end of the translation frame 421. A second drive mechanism for driving the translation slider 422 to slide horizontally is also installed on the translation frame 421. This second drive mechanism can be a rodless cylinder, a synchronous belt module, or a lead screw module. A lifting cylinder 423 is fixedly installed on the translation slider 422, and a longitudinal slide block 424 is fixedly installed on the downwardly extending moving end of the lifting cylinder 423. Multiple suction frames 426 are slidably arranged on the lower part of the longitudinal slide block 424. The number of suction frames 426 is the same as the number of battery placement slots in the longitudinal direction of the button battery tray, where the longitudinal direction is the length of the tray. The suction frame 426 closest to the end of the tray conveyor line 1 is fixedly connected to the longitudinal slide block 424, while the remaining suction frames 426 are slidably arranged on the longitudinal slide block 424. A second support spring is installed between two adjacent suction frames 426. In its free state, the second support spring maintains the distance between adjacent suction frames 426 equal to the distance between the battery placement slots in the longitudinal direction of the button battery tray. A tensioning cylinder 425 is also installed on the longitudinal slide 424. The moving end of the tensioning cylinder 425 is connected to the suction frame 426 furthest from the end of the tray conveyor line 1, and is used to pull all suction frames 426 to slide along the longitudinal slide 424.

[0043] Each suction frame 426 is equipped with multiple second vacuum suction cups 427 spaced laterally, with the lateral direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of the suction frame. The number and position of the second vacuum suction cups 427 on each suction frame 426 correspond one-to-one with the number and position of the lateral placement slots of the button battery tray. When the suction frame 426 is tightened to its limit position by the tensioning cylinder 425, the spacing between the suction frames 426 decreases to be equal to the diameter of a single button battery. At this time, the positions of all the second vacuum suction cups 427 correspond exactly to the positions of the batteries that are closely arranged on the tray 414 of the lateral pitch mechanism 41.

[0044] like Figure 3 As shown, the vertical storage palletizing mechanism 5 includes a support frame 51 positioned above the pallet conveyor line 1 and a lifting cylinder 54 positioned below the pallet conveyor line 1 at its center. The middle portion of the support frame 51 forms a cavity for stacking button battery trays upwards. Vertically extending vertical storage frames 53 are fixedly installed at the four corners of this cavity, guiding and limiting the stacked pallets. Flip plates 52 are rotatably mounted on the upper surface of the support frame 51 at both sides of the cavity, with their movable ends extending into the cavity. The lifting cylinder 54 is positioned below the two first conveyor belts 16 of the pallet conveyor line 1. When the movable end of the lifting cylinder 54 extends upwards, it passes through the gap between the two first conveyor belts 16, lifting the battery-filled pallets conveyed directly above it.

[0045] The working principle of the vertical storage palletizing mechanism 5 is as follows: When a tray full of batteries is conveyed by the tray conveyor line 1 to the cavity directly below the support frame 51, the lifting cylinder 54 extends, lifting the tray upwards. The tray passes through the cavity and over the movable end of the flap 52. The flap 52 rotates to a horizontal position under its own weight, or it can rotate to a horizontal position under the action of a torsion spring. The lifting cylinder 54 retracts, and the tray is then supported by the flap 52 at the corresponding height position within the cavity. Repeating the above actions, subsequent full trays are lifted one by one and stacked on top of the previous tray, thus achieving layer-by-layer palletizing.

[0046] The working principle of this invention is described in detail below: First, the material tray feeding mechanism 2 takes out the stacked empty button battery trays one by one and places them on the first conveyor belt 16 of the material tray conveyor line 1. The first conveyor motor 15 drives the first conveyor belt 16 to rotate and transport the empty material trays to the working position of the variable pitch tray loading mechanism 4.

[0047] Meanwhile, the second conveyor motor 34 of the battery conveyor line 3 drives the second conveyor belt 35 to operate, sequentially conveying the button batteries from the previous process to the end of the battery conveyor line 3. The clamping cylinder 415 of the transverse pitch mechanism 41 extends first, pushing all the trays 414 to slide along the transverse slide block 413 to the clamping state. At this time, the trays 414 move closer to each other, the first support springs between adjacent trays 414 are compressed, and the upper surfaces of each tray 414 together form a groove that opens only towards the side of the battery conveyor line 3.

[0048] The pushing cylinder 411 extends sequentially multiple times, pushing rows of button batteries from the end of the battery conveyor line 3 into the grooves of the tray 414 one by one via the pushing plate 412. After each row of batteries is pushed in, the row moves backward along the length of the groove under the push of the subsequent batteries. The length of the groove is the battery conveying direction. When the number of rows of batteries pushed in reaches the number of longitudinal placement slots of the button battery tray, the groove is exactly filled with all the batteries to be placed into one tray. At this time, all the batteries are arranged in a horizontally close arrangement in the groove, that is, adjacent batteries in the same row are in contact with each other; at the same time, all the batteries are arranged in a vertically close arrangement in the groove, that is, adjacent batteries between adjacent rows are in contact with each other.

[0049] Subsequently, the clamping cylinder 415 retracts, and each tray 414 automatically slides back to its free-support state along the transverse slide block 413 under the elastic restoring force of the first support spring. Since the distance between adjacent trays 414 in the free-support state is equal to the distance between the transverse placement slots of the button battery tray, the batteries on each tray 414 also unfold laterally, and the transverse spacing of the batteries is adjusted to be consistent with the spacing of the transverse placement slots of the tray.

[0050] Next, the longitudinal pitch mechanism 42 begins to operate. The tension cylinder 425 extends first, pulling all the suction frames 426 along the longitudinal slide block 424 to the tension limit position. At this time, the suction frames 426 move closer to each other, the second support springs between adjacent suction frames 426 are compressed, and the distance between the suction frames 426 is reduced to the diameter of a single button battery. The positions of all the second vacuum suction cups 427 correspond one-to-one with the positions of the batteries that are closely arranged on the tray 414.

[0051] The lifting cylinder 423 extends, driving the longitudinal slide 424 to descend. The second vacuum suction cups 427 on each suction frame 426 contact each battery on the tray 414 and vacuum them for adsorption. The lifting cylinder 423 retracts, lifting all the batteries from the tray 414 at once. Then, the tensioning cylinder 425 retracts, and each suction frame 426 automatically slides back to its free-supported state along the longitudinal slide 424 under the elastic restoring force of the second support spring. Since the distance between adjacent suction frames 426 in the free-supported state is equal to the distance between the longitudinal placement slots of the button battery tray, the batteries on each suction frame 426 also unfold longitudinally, and the longitudinal spacing of the batteries is adjusted to match the spacing of the longitudinal placement slots of the tray.

[0052] At this point, the horizontal and vertical spacing of all the batteries adsorbed on the second vacuum suction cup 427 are precisely matched with the spacing of the horizontal and vertical placement slots of the button battery tray, respectively.

[0053] The second drive mechanism drives the translation slider 422 to slide along the translation frame 421, moving the longitudinal slide 424 and all the adsorbed batteries to directly above the empty tray of the tray conveyor line 1. The lifting cylinder 423 extends again, driving the longitudinal slide 424 to descend and accurately place the batteries into the corresponding placement slots of the empty tray. The second vacuum suction cup 427 breaks the vacuum and releases the batteries. The lifting cylinder 423 retracts, the translation slider 422 resets, and one tray loading cycle is completed.

[0054] The full pallet, once filled, is conveyed by the pallet conveyor line 1 to the stacking mechanism 5 of the vertical warehouse. The lifting cylinder 54 lifts it up, and the flip plate 52 stacks it in the vertical warehouse frame 53, waiting for subsequent processes to remove it.

[0055] Each workstation in this system is equipped with a sensor to detect the arrival status of materials. This sensor can be a photoelectric sensor, a proximity switch, or a magnetic induction sensor. Each sensor is electrically connected to the main controller, which receives the detection signals from each sensor and controls the corresponding cylinder, motor, and vacuum suction cup to operate according to a predetermined sequence.

[0056] Specifically, a first detection sensor is installed on the gripping frame 28 of the material tray feeding mechanism 2. The first detection sensor is used to detect whether there is an empty material tray in the feeding chamber. When the first detection sensor detects that the material tray is in place, the main controller controls the gripping cylinder 210 and the gripping slider 29 to perform gripping and transfer actions.

[0057] A second detection sensor is installed at the end of the battery conveying line 3. The second detection sensor is used to detect whether the button battery is conveyed to the pushing station. When the second detection sensor detects that the battery is in place, the main controller controls the pushing cylinder 411 to perform the pushing action.

[0058] A third detection sensor is installed on the transverse slide 413. The third detection sensor is used to detect whether the groove of the tray 414 is filled with the same number of batteries as the longitudinal placement slots of the button battery tray. When the third detection sensor detects that the batteries are full, the main controller controls the clamping cylinder 415 to retract, triggering the transverse pitch change action.

[0059] A fourth detection sensor is installed on the longitudinal slide 424. The fourth detection sensor is used to detect whether the second vacuum suction cup 427 has completed adsorption of the battery. When the fourth detection sensor detects that adsorption is complete, the main controller controls the lifting cylinder 423 to rise and controls the tensioning cylinder 425 to retract, triggering the longitudinal pitch change action.

[0060] A fifth detection sensor is installed in the cavity of the support frame 51. The fifth detection sensor is used to detect whether the pallet has been lifted by the lifting cylinder 54 to a height above the flip plate 52. When the fifth detection sensor detects that the lifting is in place, the main controller controls the lifting cylinder 54 to retract, completing a single palletizing action.

[0061] Based on the feedback from the detection signals of the above sensors, the main controller coordinates and controls the material tray feeding mechanism 2, material tray conveyor line 1, battery conveyor line 3, variable pitch tray loading mechanism 4, and vertical warehouse palletizing mechanism 5 to automatically cycle according to a predetermined rhythm, thereby realizing fully automated button battery tray loading operation.

[0062] It should be noted that the order of the lateral and longitudinal pitch changes described above can be interchanged. That is, the longitudinal pitch change mechanism 42 can first pick up the closely arranged batteries and perform longitudinal pitch change, and then the lateral pitch change mechanism 41 can perform lateral pitch change. The pitch change principle and the final effect are the same, and all fall within the protection scope of this invention. In addition, the cylinder drive method in this invention can also be replaced by an electric cylinder drive method, a hydraulic cylinder drive method, or a motor-assisted cam drive method. These are all common knowledge substitutions known to those skilled in the art.

[0063] The foregoing has shown and described the basic principles, main features and advantages of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The embodiments and descriptions in the specification are only illustrative of the principles of the present invention. Various changes and modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such changes and modifications fall within the scope of the present invention as claimed.

Claims

1. A button battery tray loading system, characterized in that, include: The tray conveyor line (1) is used for conveying button battery trays; The material tray feeding mechanism (2) is located at one end of the material tray conveyor line (1). The material tray feeding mechanism (2) includes a feeding bin, a material transfer component, a lifting component and a gripping component. The feeding bin is provided with a discharge chamber for storing stacked empty trays and a feeding chamber connected to the discharge chamber. The material transfer component is used to push the empty trays in the discharge chamber one by one to the feeding chamber. The lifting component is used to lift the empty trays in the feeding chamber to the picking height. The gripping component is used to grab the lifted empty trays and place them on the material tray conveyor line (1). A variable pitch tray mechanism (4) is used to load button batteries into an empty button battery tray. as well as The vertical storage palletizing mechanism (5) is located at the other end of the material tray conveyor line (1) away from the material tray loading mechanism (2). The vertical storage palletizing mechanism (5) includes a support frame (51), a lifting cylinder (54) and a flip plate (52). The support frame (51) has a cavity in the middle for stacking button battery trays upwards. The lifting cylinder (54) is located below the material tray conveyor line (1) and is used to lift the material trays upwards from the material tray conveyor line (1). The flip plate (52) is rotatably located on the upper surface of the support frame (51) corresponding to the cavity and is used to support the material trays lifted by the lifting cylinder (54).

2. The button battery tray loading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material conveyor line (1) includes a first conveyor frame (11). The upper part of the first conveyor frame (11) is configured as a horizontal frame structure. A first active belt roller (13) is installed on both sides of one end of the upper part of the first conveyor frame (11), and a first driven belt roller (12) is installed on both sides of the other end. A first conveyor belt (16) is sleeved on the first active belt roller (13) and the first driven roller on the same side. The two first active belt rollers (13) are coaxially connected by a rotating shaft (14). A first conveyor motor (15) for driving the first active belt roller (13) to rotate is fixedly installed on the first conveyor frame (11).

3. The button battery tray loading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material transfer assembly of the material tray feeding mechanism (2) includes a material transfer cylinder (22) fixedly installed on the side of the feeding bin corresponding to the discharge chamber and a material transfer plate (23) fixedly connected to the moving end of the material transfer cylinder (22). The material transfer plate (23) extends into the discharge chamber and is used to push the empty tray at the bottom of the discharge chamber to the feeding chamber. The lifting assembly includes a feeding rack (24) fixedly installed at the lower part of the feeding bin, a lifting slider clamped on the side of the feeding rack (24), a feeding tray (27) fixedly connected to the lifting slider through an L-shaped connecting plate, a vertically arranged feeding screw, and a material fixedly installed on the feeding rack (24). The upper part is a feeding motor (25) for driving the feeding screw to rotate. The feeding plate (27) is set at the position below the feeding chamber. The lifting slider is sleeved on the feeding screw through a threaded connection. The gripping assembly includes a gripping frame (28) fixedly installed on the upper part of the feeding bin, a gripping slider (29) slidably set on the upper end of the gripping frame (28), a gripping cylinder (210) fixedly installed on the gripping slider (29), a first vacuum suction cup (211) fixedly installed on the moving end of the gripping cylinder (210), and a first driving mechanism installed on the gripping frame (28) for pushing the gripping slider (29) to slide.

4. The button battery tray loading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The support frame (51) of the vertical palletizing mechanism (5) is fixedly installed with vertically extending vertical pallet frames (53) at the four corners of the cavity. The vertical pallet frames (53) are used to guide and limit the palletizing trays. The movable end of the flip plate (52) extends to the cavity. The lifting cylinder (54) is located below the two conveyor belts of the pallet conveying line (1). When the movable end of the lifting cylinder (54) extends upward, it can pass through the gap between the two conveyor belts.

5. A button battery tray loading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a battery conveyor line (3), which includes a second conveyor frame (31). The second conveyor frame (31) has a second driven belt roller (32) and a second driving belt roller (33) installed at both ends. A second conveyor belt (35) is sleeved on the second driven belt roller (32) and the second driving belt roller (33). A second conveyor motor (34) for driving the second driving belt roller (33) to rotate is also installed on the second conveyor frame (31).

6. A button battery tray loading system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The variable pitch loading mechanism (4) is located in the middle of the material tray conveyor line (1) and is used to load the button batteries into the button battery tray on the material tray conveyor line (1); the variable pitch loading mechanism (4) includes a transverse variable pitch mechanism (41) and a longitudinal variable pitch mechanism (42).

7. A button battery tray loading system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The lateral pitch mechanism (41) includes a stop block at the end of the battery conveyor line (3) and a pusher cylinder (411) on one side of the end of the battery conveyor line (3). A pusher plate (412) is fixedly installed on the moving end of the pusher cylinder (411). A lateral slide (413) is installed on the side of the end of the battery conveyor line (3) away from the pusher cylinder (411). The lateral slide (413) has the same number of trays (414) as the number of battery placement slots in the lateral direction of the button battery tray. The tray (414) closest to the end of the battery conveyor line (3) is fixedly connected to the lateral slide (413), and the remaining trays (414) are slidably arranged. A first support spring is installed between adjacent trays (414). The side of the transverse slide (413) is equipped with a clamping cylinder (415) for pushing the tray (414) to slide; the spacing of the tray (414) when it is in the free support state of the first support spring is equal to the spacing of the battery placement slots in the transverse direction of the button battery tray; when the clamping cylinder (415) pushes and clamps the tray (414) into the upper surface, a groove structure is formed with an opening only on the side near the battery conveying line (3), the width of the groove is equal to the sum of the widths of the number of batteries in the transverse battery placement slots of the button battery tray, and the length of the groove is equal to the sum of the widths of the number of batteries in the longitudinal battery placement slots of the button battery tray; the upper surface of the tray (414), the upper surface of the battery conveying line (3), and the lower surface of the pusher plate (412) are on the same plane.

8. A button battery tray loading system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The longitudinal pitch-changing mechanism (42) includes a translation frame (421) fixedly installed at the docking position of the battery conveying line (3) and the tray conveying line (1). The upper end of the translation frame (421) is provided with a horizontally sliding translation slider (422). The translation frame (421) is also equipped with a second driving mechanism for pushing the translation slider (422) to slide. The translation slider (422) is equipped with a lifting cylinder (423). The lower moving end of the lifting cylinder (423) is equipped with a longitudinal slide (424). The lower part of the longitudinal slide (424) is slidably provided with the same number of suction frames (426) as the longitudinal battery placement slots of the button battery tray. The suction frame (426) closest to the end of the tray conveying line (1) is fixedly connected to the longitudinal slide (424), and the remaining suction frames (426) slide. The system is configured such that a second support spring is installed between adjacent suction frames (426), and a tensioning cylinder (425) for pulling the suction frames (426) to slide is installed on the longitudinal slide (424); the spacing between the suction frames (426) when they are in the free support state of the second support spring is equal to the spacing between the battery placement slots in the longitudinal direction of the button battery tray, and the spacing between the suction frames (426) when they are tensioned to the limit position by the tensioning cylinder (425) is equal to the diameter of a single button battery, so that the position of the second vacuum suction cup (427) corresponds one-to-one with the position of the batteries that are closely arranged on the tray (414); a second vacuum suction cup (427) is installed at intervals on each suction frame (426), and the number and position of the second vacuum suction cup (427) on each suction frame (426) correspond to the number and position of the transverse placement slots of the button battery tray.

9. A button battery tray loading system according to claim 7, characterized in that: When the clamping cylinder (415) pushes the tray (414) to the clamping state, the pushing cylinder (411) pushes the button batteries on the battery conveying line (3) into the groove one by one until the groove is filled with the same number of batteries as the vertical placement slots of the button battery tray. Then the clamping cylinder (415) releases, and the first support spring drives each tray (414) to return to the free support state, so that the lateral spacing of the batteries on each tray (414) is consistent with the lateral placement slot spacing of the button battery tray.

10. A method for loading button batteries onto a tray, employing the automatic button battery tray loading and unloading system as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1: Material tray loading step, the material tray loading mechanism (2) takes out the stacked empty button battery trays one by one and places them on the material tray conveyor line (1). The material transfer component of the material tray loading mechanism (2) pushes the empty trays in the feeding chamber one by one to the loading chamber. The lifting component raises the empty trays in the loading chamber to the picking height. The gripping component grips the raised empty trays and places them on the material tray conveyor line (1). S2: Tray conveying step, wherein the tray conveying line (1) conveys the empty button battery tray forward to the tray loading station; S3: Palletizing step. After the full button battery tray is completed, it is transported to the vertical warehouse palletizing mechanism (5) by the tray conveyor line (1). The lifting cylinder (54) of the vertical warehouse palletizing mechanism (5) lifts the tray upward from the tray conveyor line (1). After the tray passes through the cavity of the support frame (51) and over the flip plate (52), the flip plate (52) rotates to a horizontal state to support the tray, completing the layer-by-layer palletizing.

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