Automatic paper stacking device and method for a baked product

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of automatic paper laying and stacking device and method of cake food, belong to food automation packaging technical field.The stacking device includes paper separator paper feeding mechanism, paper separator conveyor, blanking conveyor and stacking mechanism sequentially arranged along the direction of conveyance, and the cake body grabbing mechanism is set to the side of paper separator conveyor.Paper separator paper feeding mechanism separates and outputs to paper separator conveyor with the paper separator of stacking, cake body grabbing mechanism grabs cake body and is placed on the paper separator conveyed by paper separator conveyor to form cake paper combination, cake paper combination enters stacking mechanism by blanking conveyor, and the stacking warehouse of stacking mechanism is driven along the direction of conveyance reciprocating movement by linear module to receive cake paper combination and stack multiple cake paper combinations into pile.The application realizes the time sequence decoupling of paper feeding and cake grabbing, can long time continuous paper feeding, and stacking number can be flexibly set according to need, suitable for spring roll, duck cake, hand grab cake and other soft thin cake food automatic paper laying and stacking.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of automated food packaging technology, specifically relating to an automatic paper-feeding and stacking device and method for cake-type foods. Background Technology

[0002] Pancakes, spring pancakes, duck pancakes, and hand-pulled pancakes are now generally produced using automated processes in their shaping and baking stages, with pancake-making equipment capable of producing pancakes continuously and at high speed. However, in the pre-packaging processing, these products typically need to be stacked in fixed quantities, with a layer of paper between adjacent pancakes to prevent sticking and facilitate consumer use. Currently, most manufacturers still manually perform operations such as taking out pancakes, placing the paper, stacking, and bagging, resulting in a labor-intensive and demanding work environment.

[0003] The main problems with manual operation are as follows: First, the stacking speed is limited by the speed of manual hands, which is difficult to match the high capacity of the upstream cake-making equipment and restricts the efficiency of the entire line; Second, the direct contact of human hands with food poses hygiene risks and makes it difficult to meet the requirements of clean operation in food production; Third, the paper separator is prone to being missed or placed repeatedly, the number of stacked layers is prone to counting errors, the cakes are not stacked neatly, and the quality stability of the finished product is poor.

[0004] With the development of food automation technology, some automated equipment has begun to replace manual labor in the stacking and placement of paper dividers for biscuit-type foods. A typical solution in existing technology involves setting up a biscuit gripping mechanism and a paper divider supply mechanism. These two mechanisms work together to alternately place the biscuits and paper dividers on the same stacking station, completing a cyclical stacking process of "biscuit plus paper plus biscuit plus paper." In this solution, the biscuit gripping mechanism typically uses a robotic arm in conjunction with a vacuum suction cup to grip the biscuits from the upstream feeder line. The paper divider supply mechanism can take various forms, such as using the same robotic arm to sequentially perform the biscuit and paper picking actions, or using a separate robotic arm or paper divider placement machine to pick up paper dividers one sheet at a time from the paper divider storage box. Regardless of the specific form of paper divider supply, the common characteristic is that the biscuit and paper divider must be combined at the same stacking station, and the biscuit supply and paper divider supply must be sequentially connected and alternate.

[0005] This stacking method, which alternately supplies the cake and the separator at the same workstation, has the following shortcomings in practical applications: Firstly, the cake feeding and the paper separator feeding are sequential and mutually dependent. The paper separator feeding mechanism cannot operate when the cake is being placed, and the cake gripping mechanism cannot operate when the paper separator is being placed. The overall production cycle time is limited by the sum of the operation times of both mechanisms. The paper feeding speed and the cake gripping speed are mutually restrictive and difficult to optimize separately.

[0006] Secondly, the feeding of paper separators typically employs a single-sheet, one-by-one feeding method. This cycle involves moving the paper to the paper stack, feeding the separator, moving it to the stacking station, releasing the separator, and returning to standby. This cycle is relatively long, and when the paper is damp or statically charged, multiple separator sheets can easily stick together, leading to multiple sheets being fed at once or failure to feed at all. The paper's orientation is also difficult to control, easily resulting in skewing, paper jams, and other problems. Once these issues occur, manual intervention is required. Existing solutions lack buffering and fault-tolerance mechanisms, making it difficult to achieve continuous paper feeding over extended periods and limiting the production line's continuous operation capability.

[0007] Third, since the combination of the cake and the separator must be completed at the stacking station, the combination process and the stacking process share the same station, making it impossible to achieve a smooth connection and transition between the preceding and following processes, which restricts the further improvement of equipment utilization.

[0008] In addition, existing automation solutions generally have the following problems: when the incoming material position and posture of the pancake-making equipment fluctuate randomly, there is a lack of effective linkage mechanism, making it difficult to stably complete the automatic gripping and paper placement coordination, often requiring manual alignment and adjustment; the stacking layer is mostly fixed, and manual adjustment is required when product specifications change, resulting in low production changeover efficiency; defects on the surface of the pancakes still mainly rely on manual visual inspection, lacking online automatic detection and rejection methods, and defective products are easily mixed into the finished product; moreover, existing equipment is mostly designed for frozen pancakes or pancakes with a certain degree of hardness, and for thin pancakes such as spring pancakes and duck pancakes, which are soft in texture and easy to stick to the surface, the gripping and transfer process can easily cause deformation and damage to the pancakes, resulting in poor adaptability.

[0009] Therefore, how to provide an automatic paper feeding and stacking device that can decouple the paper feeding and pancake grabbing timing, support long-term continuous paper feeding, flexibly set the number of stacking layers, and adapt to soft pancake-type foods is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0010] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide an automatic paper feeding and stacking device and method for cake-type food products. It aims to solve the problems in the prior art, such as the time coupling and mutual constraints between cake feeding and cake grabbing, which leads to the limited efficiency of the entire line; the intermittent suction method for paper feeding, which makes it easy to stick and jam the paper, making it difficult to achieve continuous paper feeding for a long time; the low equipment utilization rate and lack of buffering capacity due to the sharing of the same workstation for combination and stacking; and the poor adaptability of the existing equipment to soft and thin cakes.

[0011] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: an automatic paper feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods, characterized in that it comprises: a paper feeding mechanism, a paper conveyor, a cake gripping mechanism, a feeding conveyor, and a stacking mechanism, wherein the paper feeding mechanism, the paper conveyor, the feeding conveyor, and the stacking mechanism are arranged sequentially along the conveying direction; the paper feeding mechanism is used to separate the stacked paper sheets one by one and output them to the paper conveyor; the paper conveyor is used to receive the paper sheets output by the paper feeding mechanism and convey the paper sheets to the feeding conveyor; the cake gripping mechanism is equipped with... The feeder is positioned on one side of the paper separator conveyor and is used to grab the paper cake from the upstream feeder and place it on the paper separator conveyed by the paper separator conveyor to form a paper cake assembly. The unloading conveyor is used to receive the paper cake assembly output by the paper separator conveyor and to convey the paper cake assembly to the stacking mechanism. The stacking mechanism is located at the output end of the unloading conveyor and includes a stacking bin and a linear module. The linear module is used to drive the stacking bin to move back and forth along the conveying direction to receive the paper cake assembly output by the unloading conveyor and to stack multiple paper cake assemblies into a stack.

[0012] Based on the above technical solution, the technical solution provided by the present invention has at least the following advantages: Firstly, the paper feeding and cake grasping mechanisms of this invention are executed in parallel and without mutual constraint. The paper feeding mechanism separates the stacked paper sheets one by one and continuously outputs them to the paper conveyor. The cake grasping mechanism independently performs cake grasping and releasing actions on one side of the paper conveyor. The paper feeding cycle is no longer limited by the action cycle of the cake grasping mechanism, effectively improving the overall production line efficiency.

[0013] Secondly, this invention achieves continuous paper feeding over extended periods. The separator sheets are loaded in stacks within the separator feeding mechanism, which separates them one sheet at a time and continuously outputs them to the separator conveyor. The separator conveyor then continuously transports the sheets towards the stacking mechanism. Compared to the intermittent feeding method of existing robotic arms, this invention provides continuous and stable paper feeding, reducing downtime caused by paper sticking, jams, and other issues, thus supporting long-term continuous operation of the production line.

[0014] Thirdly, in this invention, the combination and stacking of the cake body and the separator are spatially separated. The cake body and the separator are combined on the separator conveyor, and the combined cake body is then conveyed by the feeding conveyor into the stacking bin. The combination process and the stacking process are independent and do not interfere with each other, and the preceding and following processes can achieve a smooth connection in a streamlined manner, effectively improving the equipment utilization rate.

[0015] Fourth, in this invention, the paper separator conveyor and the unloading conveyor are driven and controlled independently, with their speeds not interfering with each other. The paper separator conveyor can operate at a lower speed or even pause as needed, allowing the cake to be accurately placed in the preset position of the paper separator; the unloading conveyor can operate independently at a higher preset speed according to process requirements, outputting the cake paper assembly and maintaining it in a near-horizontal flight posture, smoothly entering the stacking bin, providing the prerequisite for reliable material reception and neat stacking in the stacking bin.

[0016] Fifth, in this invention, the stacking bin is driven by a linear module to move back and forth along the conveying direction. When receiving the pancake paper assembly, the stacking bin moves with the incoming material direction, effectively reducing the relative speed between the pancake paper assembly and the stacking bin, and preventing the pancake from deforming or falling apart due to violent impact with the bin wall or bottom. This is especially suitable for soft and easily broken pancake foods such as spring pancakes and duck pancakes. After receiving the pancake paper assembly, the stacking bin resets to prepare to receive the next pancake paper assembly, and so on to achieve layer-by-layer stacking.

[0017] Sixth, in this invention, the paper feeding mechanism, paper conveyor, material unloading conveyor, and stacking mechanism are arranged sequentially along the conveying direction. The entire production line has a compact structure and a clear material flow direction. The various mechanisms work together to achieve full automation of the entire process from paper feeding, paper conveying, cake grabbing and placement, transition conveying of cake paper combination to stacking, without the need for manual intervention, thus reducing labor costs and hygiene risks.

[0018] In summary, this invention effectively solves the problems of sequential coupling between the paper feeding and the paper grabbing in the prior art, frequent machine stoppages caused by paper jams due to intermittent paper feeding, and low efficiency of shared workstations for combination and stacking. It realizes efficient, continuous and stable production of automatic paper feeding and stacking of pancake-type foods.

[0019] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, the paper feeding mechanism is a collating machine, which includes a paper placement platform and a collating mechanism. The paper placement platform is used to accommodate stacked paper dividers, and the collating mechanism is used to separate the paper dividers on the paper placement platform one sheet at a time and output them to the paper conveyor. In this solution, the collating machine can separate stacked paper dividers one sheet at a time and continuously output them, ensuring a continuous and stable paper supply. This avoids paper picking failures or double-sheet problems caused by paper sticking or static electricity. At the same time, it has a large single loading capacity, reducing the need for frequent paper feeding and supporting long-term continuous operation of the production line.

[0020] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, the paper separator conveyor includes a conveyor belt, a negative pressure chamber, and a negative pressure fan. The conveyor belt has multiple adsorption holes on its surface. The negative pressure chamber is located inside the conveyor belt and communicates with the negative pressure fan. The adsorption holes communicate with the negative pressure chamber. In this embodiment, the negative pressure fan creates negative pressure on the surface of the conveyor belt through the negative pressure chamber and the adsorption holes, causing the paper separator to be flatly adsorbed onto the conveyor belt surface. This ensures that the paper separator remains flat, does not drift, and does not deviate during conveying, guaranteeing that the cake-grabbing mechanism can accurately place the cake at a preset position on the paper separator.

[0021] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, the pancake gripping mechanism includes a parallel robot and a vacuum adsorption assembly. The vacuum adsorption assembly is disposed at the execution end of the parallel robot and includes a contour-following vacuum suction plate. In this solution, the parallel robot features high speed and high precision, meeting the gripping requirements under high-speed production cycles. The lower surface shape of the contour-following vacuum suction plate matches the shape of the pancake, adsorbing the pancake through gentle negative pressure contact. This avoids the squeezing deformation and damage caused by mechanical clamping to soft and easily broken pancakes such as spring pancakes and duck pancakes, ensuring the integrity of the pancake during gripping and transfer.

[0022] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, the stacking bin includes a cylindrical body, a receiving plate, and an opening / closing drive mechanism. The cylindrical body is vertically arranged, and the receiving plate is movably disposed at the bottom of the cylindrical body for receiving the paper roll assembly output by the feeding conveyor when in the closed position. The opening / closing drive mechanism is drivenly connected to the receiving plate for driving the receiving plate to switch between the closed and open positions. In this scheme, after the paper roll assembly enters the cylindrical body, it is stacked layer by layer on the receiving plate. When the receiving plate is in the closed position, it provides a stable receiving surface to ensure that each layer of paper roll assembly is stacked neatly. After reaching a set number of layers, the receiving plate opens, and the entire stack of products is naturally released by gravity. The structure is simple and reliable, without the need for complex lifting or transfer mechanisms.

[0023] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, the stacking mechanism further includes a post-stack conveyor line, which is disposed below the stacking bin. In this embodiment, the post-stack conveyor line receives the released stack of products when the receiving plate is opened and transports them to the next process, realizing automatic output after stacking is completed without manual intervention. This ensures smooth connection between stacking and output actions and improves the automation level of the entire line.

[0024] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, an incoming material conveyor is also included. The incoming material conveyor is disposed on one side of the cake-grabbing mechanism and is used to transport the upstream incoming material to the grasping range of the cake-grabbing mechanism. In this scheme, the incoming material conveyor orderly transports the cakes produced by the upstream cake-making equipment to the grasping range of the cake-grabbing mechanism, enabling the cake-grabbing mechanism to stably acquire the incoming material.

[0025] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, the device further includes a first vision unit and a second vision unit; the first vision unit is disposed above the incoming material conveyor and is used to acquire the position information of the cake conveyed by the incoming material conveyor; the second vision unit is disposed above the paper separator conveyor and is used to acquire the position information of the paper separator conveyed by the paper separator conveyor. In this scheme, the first vision unit positions the incoming cake, providing an accurate gripping position for the cake gripping mechanism, enabling stable gripping even if there are fluctuations in the upstream incoming material position; the second vision unit positions the paper separator, providing an accurate cake placement position for the cake gripping mechanism. The dual vision units work together to ensure the accuracy of cake gripping and placement, reducing the equipment's dependence on the consistency of incoming materials.

[0026] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, the output end of the feeding conveyor is equipped with a photoelectric sensor for sensing the arrival of the paper cake assembly. In this embodiment, when the photoelectric sensor detects that the paper cake assembly has arrived at the output end of the feeding conveyor, it sends a signal to the stacking mechanism, triggering the linear module to drive the stacking bin to move along the conveying direction to follow the paper cake assembly, thereby achieving precise following and receiving of the stacking bin and ensuring accurate timing and coordinated action for each receiving operation.

[0027] Based on the same inventive concept, this invention also provides an automatic paper-stacking method for cakes using the aforementioned automatic paper-stacking device for cakes, comprising the following steps: a paper feeding step, wherein the stacked paper separators are separated one by one and conveyed along the conveying direction by the paper-stacking feeding mechanism; a cake placement step, wherein the cake is picked up from the upstream feeder by the cake gripping mechanism and placed on the paper separator conveyed by the paper separator conveyor, wherein the cake is located at a preset position on the opposite side of the conveying direction relative to the paper separator, forming a cake-paper assembly; and a feeding step. In the conveying step, the feeding conveyor receives the paper cake assembly and controls the feeding conveyor to output the paper cake assembly at a preset speed. In the stacking step, when the paper cake assembly is output by the feeding conveyor, the linear module drives the stacking bin to move along the conveying direction to follow the paper cake assembly, allowing the paper cake assembly to enter the stacking bin. Then, the linear module drives the stacking bin to reset. The above following and resetting actions are repeated to stack multiple paper cake assemblies layer by layer in the stacking bin. In this scheme, the paper feeding step and the paper cake placement step are executed in parallel time. The continuous supply of the paper separator and the picking and placing of the paper cake do not wait for each other, realizing the decoupling of the timing of paper feeding and paper cake picking. In the paper cake placement step, the paper cake is placed at a preset position on the paper separator on the opposite side of the conveying direction. After being accelerated and ejected by the feeding conveyor, the biscuit assembly enters the air flight stage. During flight, the biscuit slides relative to the separator paper in the conveying direction. When the sliding amount reaches a preset offset, the biscuit is precisely located in the center of the separator paper, thus completing the air centering before entering the stacking bin. This "pre-offset + air sliding centering" method eliminates the need for additional centering mechanisms and avoids the need to adjust the position by hitting the walls in the stacking bin, preventing the separator paper from curling due to hitting the walls or the biscuit from deforming due to impact. In the stacking step, the stacking bin is driven by a linear module to move back and forth along the conveying direction to follow the biscuit assembly, further reducing the relative speed of the biscuit assembly when entering the stacking bin, allowing the biscuit assembly to fall smoothly into the stacking bin. The above steps work together to form a complete automated process from paper feeding, biscuit placement, transition conveying to stacking, achieving efficient, stable, and damage-free automatic paper feeding and stacking of biscuit-type foods. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for biscuit-type foods in the embodiment.

[0029] Figure 2 This is a perspective view of the material conveyor in the embodiment.

[0030] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first visual unit in the embodiment, wherein, Figure 3 In the diagram, 'a' represents the stereoscopic image of the first visual unit. Figure 3 In this context, 'b' represents the main view of the first visual unit.

[0031] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the rack protection structure in the embodiment, wherein, Figure 4 In the diagram, 'a' represents the front view of the rack protection. Figure 4 In the diagram, b is a 3D view of the rack protection.

[0032] Figure 5 This is a perspective view of the biscuit gripping mechanism in the embodiment.

[0033] Figure 6 This is a perspective view of the paper feeding mechanism in the embodiment.

[0034] Figure 7 This is a perspective view of the paper conveyor in the embodiment.

[0035] Figure 8 This is a perspective view of the paper conveyor with the conveyor belt hidden in the embodiment.

[0036] Figure 9 This is the front view of the second visual unit in the embodiment.

[0037] Figure 10 This is a perspective view of the feeding conveyor in the embodiment.

[0038] Figure 11 This is a perspective view of the stacking mechanism in the embodiment.

[0039] Figure 12 This is a top view of the stacked warehouse in the embodiment.

[0040] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the paper roll assembly on the paper conveyor in the embodiment.

[0041] In the diagram: 1. Incoming material conveyor; 2. First vision unit; 21. First stainless steel light box; 22. First strip light source; 23. Industrial control computer; 24. First light source amplifier; 25. First vision camera; 26. First vision lens; 3. Frame protection; 31. Stainless steel frame; 32. Safety door; 33. Tri-color light; 34. Cantilever screen; 35. Pneumatic dual unit; 36. Foot cup and casters; 37. Side protection door; 4. Disc gripping mechanism; 41. Parallel robot; 42. Contouring vacuum suction plate; 43. Vacuum generator; 5. Paper feeding mechanism; 51. Pager frame; 52. Paper placement platform; 53. Pager mechanism; 6. Paper separator. 61. Conveyor; 62. Conveyor belt; 63. Negative pressure fan; 64. Negative pressure chamber; 7. Adsorption hole; 7. Second vision unit; 71. Second stainless steel light box; 72. Second strip light source; 73. Second light source amplifier; 74. Second vision camera; 75. Second vision lens; 8. Feeding conveyor; 81. Photoelectric sensing device; 9. Stacking mechanism; 91. Linear module; 92. Stacking bin; 921. Cylinder; 922. Receiving plate; 923. Solenoid valve; 924. Drive cylinder; 925. Synchronous belt; 926. Linear guide rail; 927. Slider; 93. Post-stacking conveyor line; 94. Feeding buffer line; 10. Paper separator; 11. Disc. Detailed Implementation

[0042] To better understand the above technical solutions, the following will provide a detailed explanation of the technical solutions in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0043] like Figure 1As shown in the figure, this embodiment provides an automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type food products, including an incoming conveyor 1, a first vision unit 2, a cake gripping mechanism 4, a paper-feeding mechanism 5, a paper-feeding conveyor 6, a second vision unit 7, a discharge conveyor 8, a stacking mechanism 9, and a frame protection 3. The paper-feeding mechanism 5, the paper-feeding conveyor 6, the discharge conveyor 8, and the stacking mechanism 9 are arranged sequentially along the conveying direction. The incoming conveyor 1 connects to the output end of the upstream cake-making equipment and is used to receive and transport cakes 11. The first vision unit 2 is located above the incoming conveyor 1 and is used to acquire the position information of the cakes 11. The cake gripping mechanism 4 is located between the incoming conveyor 1 and the paper-feeding conveyor 6 and is used to grip the cakes 11 from the incoming conveyor 1 and place the cakes 11 onto the paper 10 conveyed by the paper-feeding conveyor 6 to form a cake-paper assembly. The paper feeding mechanism 5 is located on one side of the input end of the paper conveyor 6, and is used to separate the stacked paper dividers 10 one by one and output them to the paper conveyor 6. After receiving the paper dividers 10, the paper conveyor 6 conveys the paper dividers 10 to the feeder conveyor 8 along the conveying direction. The second vision unit 7 is located above the paper conveyor 6 and is used to obtain the position information of the paper dividers 10. The feeder conveyor 8 receives the paper roll assembly output by the paper conveyor 6 and conveys the paper roll assembly to the stacking mechanism 9. The stacking mechanism 9 is located at the output end of the feeder conveyor 8 and is used to receive the paper roll assembly and stack multiple paper roll assemblies into a stack. The frame protection 3 is welded from 304 stainless steel and is used to fix the parallel robot 41 and protect it.

[0044] like Figure 2 As shown, the feeding conveyor 1 connects to the upstream cake-making equipment and is used to transport the cakes 11 produced by the upstream cake-making equipment to the gripping range of the cake-grabbing mechanism 4. The feeding conveyor 1 adopts a blade belt conveyor, and the conveyor belt is made of food-grade PU belt, which meets the production standards of the food industry. The feeding conveyor 1 is driven by a servo drive mechanism, which can precisely control the conveying speed to match the output rhythm of the upstream cake-making equipment.

[0045] like Figure 3 a and Figure 3 As shown in b, the first vision unit 2 is positioned above the material conveyor 1 and is used to acquire the position information of the disc 11 conveyed by the material conveyor 1. The first vision unit 2 includes a first stainless steel light box 21, a first strip light source 22, an industrial control computer 23, a first light source amplifier 24, a first vision camera 25, and a first vision lens 26. The first strip light source 22 and the first light source amplifier 24 work together to provide uniform lighting conditions, and the first vision camera 25 and the first vision lens 26 work together to acquire images of the disc 11 and transmit them to the industrial control computer 23 for processing.

[0046] The first vision unit 2, while providing positioning and gripping capabilities for the biscuit 11, can also detect impurities such as holes, hairs, and foreign objects on the surface of the biscuit 11. The industrial control computer 23 determines whether the biscuit 11 has defects based on the image information acquired by the first vision unit 2. If the biscuit 11 has defects, the biscuit gripping mechanism 4 abandons the gripping, and the defective biscuit continues forward with the incoming material conveyor 1 and falls into the tail collection box. If the biscuit 11 is acceptable, the biscuit gripping mechanism 4 grips it. The first vision unit 2 obtains coded signals through the servo drive mechanism of the incoming material conveyor 1 and transmits the position information of the biscuit 11 to the biscuit gripping mechanism 4.

[0047] like Figure 4 a and Figure 4 As shown in b, the frame protection 3 is constructed entirely of 304 stainless steel and is used to secure the parallel robot 41 and its various functional mechanisms. The frame protection 3 includes a stainless steel frame 31, a safety door 32, a tri-color light 33, a cantilever screen 34, a pneumatic dual-unit 35, feet and casters 36, and a side protection door 37. The stainless steel frame 31 is welded from 304 stainless steel square tubing, providing a robust overall structure that facilitates high-speed gripping operations for the parallel robot 41. The safety door 32 is made of tempered glass and features a door check switch above it. When the door is opened, the equipment triggers the safety door lock, stopping the machine. The tri-color light 33 indicates the equipment's operating status (e.g., normal operation, standby, fault alarm). The cantilever screen 34 serves as a human-machine interface for parameter setting and equipment monitoring. The pneumatic dual-unit 35 filters and regulates compressed air, providing a clean and stable air source for the pneumatic components. The feet and casters 36 facilitate the installation, positioning, and movement of the equipment.

[0048] like Figure 5 As shown, the biscuit gripping mechanism 4 includes a parallel robot 41 and a vacuum adsorption assembly. The vacuum adsorption assembly, located at the end of the parallel robot 41, includes a contoured vacuum suction plate 42 and a vacuum generator 43. The parallel robot 41 can grip 40-60 biscuits per minute. The lower surface of the contoured vacuum suction plate 42 matches the shape of the biscuit 11, creating a vacuum chamber through contouring. The part in contact with the biscuit 11 is made of food-grade material. The vacuum generator 43 provides a vacuum source for the vacuum adsorption assembly, enabling both negative pressure adsorption and positive pressure backflushing. When adsorbing the biscuit 11, the vacuum generator 43 generates negative pressure, and the contoured vacuum suction plate 42 gently adsorbs the biscuit 11 using this negative pressure. When releasing the biscuit 11, the vacuum generator 43 switches to positive pressure backflushing mode to assist in separating the biscuit 11 from the contoured vacuum suction plate 42.

[0049] like Figure 6As shown, the paper feeding mechanism 5 is a collating machine, including a collating frame 51, a paper placement platform 52, and a collating mechanism 53. The paper placement platform 52 is used to accommodate stacked paper separators 10, and can load 500 to 2000 sheets of paper separators 10 at a time. The collating mechanism 53 adopts a friction-type collating machine in the prior art, which uses the friction separation principle to separate the paper separators 10 on the paper placement platform 52 one sheet at a time and output them to the paper conveyor 6.

[0050] In use, the operator places a stack of dividers 10 onto the divider placement platform 52. After the paging mechanism 53 is activated, the dividers 10 are separated one by one from the bottom of the paper stack by friction, and supplied individually to the divider conveyor 6. The divider feeding mechanism 5 can be interlocked with the entire system and has a material shortage alarm and a tracking start / stop function. When the dividers 10 on the divider placement platform 52 are about to run out, the divider feeding mechanism 5 issues a material shortage alarm signal, prompting the operator to replenish the dividers 10 in time, thereby achieving long-term continuous paper supply.

[0051] like Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, the paper separator conveyor 6 is a negative pressure conveyor line, connected upstream to the paper separator feeding mechanism 5, used to receive the paper separator 10 output by the paper separator feeding mechanism 5 and convey the paper separator 10 to the feeder conveyor 8 along the conveying direction. The paper separator conveyor 6 includes a conveyor belt 61, a negative pressure fan 62, and a negative pressure chamber 63. The conveyor belt 61 has multiple adsorption holes 64 on its surface, and the negative pressure chamber 63 is located inside the conveyor belt 61 and communicates with the negative pressure fan 62. The adsorption holes 64 are connected to the negative pressure chamber 63.

[0052] After the negative pressure fan 62 is started, a negative pressure is formed in the negative pressure chamber 63. The negative pressure is transmitted to the surface of the conveyor belt 61 through the adsorption holes 64 on the conveyor belt 61. When the paper feeding mechanism 5 conveys the paper separator 10 to the input end of the paper conveyor 6, the paper separator 10 is adsorbed by the negative pressure onto the surface of the conveyor belt 61, and remains flat, does not drift, and does not deviate during the conveying process.

[0053] The conveyor belt 61 of the paper separator conveyor 6 is designed with a knife-edge pattern, with its input end also in a knife-edge shape, to ensure a smooth transition with the paper separator feeding mechanism 5 to the paper separator 10. The paper separator conveyor 6 is driven by a servo drive mechanism, which can precisely control the conveying speed. During the process of the disc gripping mechanism 4 placing the disc 11 onto the paper separator 10, the paper separator conveyor 6 can operate at a lower speed or even pause as needed, so that the disc 11 can be accurately placed at the preset position on the paper separator 10.

[0054] like Figure 9As shown, the second vision unit 7 is positioned above the paper conveyor 6 and is used to acquire the position information of the paper 10 conveyed by the paper conveyor 6. The second vision unit 7 includes a second stainless steel light box 71, a second strip light source 72, a second light source amplifier 73, a second vision camera 74, and a second vision lens 75. The second strip light source 72 and the second light source amplifier 73 work together to provide uniform lighting conditions, and the second vision camera 74 and the second vision lens 75 work together to acquire images of the paper 10 and transmit them to the industrial control computer 23 for processing.

[0055] The second vision unit 7 obtains the encoded signal through the servo drive mechanism of the paper conveyor 6 and transmits the position information of the paper separator 10 to the biscuit gripping mechanism 4. Based on the position information of the paper separator 10 provided by the second vision unit 7, the biscuit gripping mechanism 4 accurately places the biscuit 11 at a preset position on the paper separator 10 with a placement accuracy of less than 1 mm.

[0056] like Figure 10 As shown, the feeding conveyor 8 is located below the paper separator conveyor 6, serving to receive the paper roll assembly output by the paper separator conveyor 6 and convey it to the stacking mechanism 9. The feeding conveyor 8 uses a blade belt conveyor, driven by a servo drive mechanism, and is independently driven and controlled from the paper separator conveyor 6, with no speed interference between them. The output end of the feeding conveyor 8 is equipped with a photoelectric sensor 81 for sensing the arrival of the paper roll assembly.

[0057] The paper separator conveyor 6 can operate at a lower speed or even pause as needed, allowing the disc 11 to be accurately placed at a preset position on the paper separator 10. After the disc 11 is placed on the paper separator 10 to form a disc assembly, the disc assembly is conveyed by the paper separator conveyor 6 to the unloading conveyor 8. After receiving the disc assembly, the unloading conveyor 8 can operate independently at a higher preset speed according to process requirements, accelerating the output of the disc assembly, so that the disc assembly maintains an approximately horizontal flight attitude after leaving the unloading conveyor 8 and smoothly enters the stacking mechanism 9.

[0058] like Figure 11 and Figure 12 As shown, the stacking mechanism 9 is located at the output end of the unloading conveyor 8, and is used to receive the paper roll assemblies output by the unloading conveyor 8 and stack multiple paper roll assemblies into a stack. The stacking mechanism 9 includes a linear module 91, a stacking bin 92, a post-stack conveyor line 93, and a discharge buffer line 94. The stacking bin 92 is located on the linear module 91 and is driven by the linear module 91 to move reciprocally along the conveying direction. The post-stack conveyor line 93 is located below the stacking bin 92. The discharge buffer line 94 is located at the output end of the post-stack conveyor line 93.

[0059] The stacking bin 92 includes a cylinder 921, a receiving plate 922, and an opening / closing drive mechanism. The opening / closing drive mechanism includes a solenoid valve 923, a drive cylinder 924, a synchronous belt 925, a linear guide rail 926, and a slider 927. The cylinder 921 is vertically arranged, with its upper edge lower than the output end of the feeding conveyor 8. The paper roll assembly is accelerated and thrown out by the feeding conveyor 8, then enters the cylinder 921 along a downward inclined trajectory. The receiving plate 922 is movably disposed at the bottom of the cylinder 921, used to receive the paper roll assembly output by the feeding conveyor 8 in the closed position. The receiving plate 922 consists of two halves, each connected to a slider 927. Both sliders 927 are slidably disposed on the linear guide rail 926. The upper and lower sections of the synchronous belt 925 are connected to the two sliders 927 respectively, with one slider 927 connected to the output end of the drive cylinder 924. When the drive cylinder 924 drives one of the sliders 927 to move along the linear guide 926, the other slider 927 moves synchronously in the opposite direction through the transmission action of the synchronous belt 925, thereby realizing the closing of the two halves of the receiving plate 922 towards each other or the opening of the two halves in opposite directions. The solenoid valve 923 is used to control the intake and exhaust of the drive cylinder 924 to realize the rapid opening and closing of the receiving plate 922.

[0060] When the paper roll assembly output from the feed conveyor 8 reaches the photoelectric sensor 81, the photoelectric sensor 81 sends a signal to the stacking mechanism 9. The linear module 91 drives the stacking bin 92 to move along the conveying direction to follow the paper roll assembly, allowing the paper roll assembly to enter the cylinder 921 at a relatively low relative speed. The cylinder 921 acts as a guide and limiter when receiving the paper roll assembly, preventing the paper roll assembly from deflecting or getting stuck when entering the cylinder 921. The paper roll assembly falls into the bottom of the bin formed by the closed receiving plate 922. After receiving each layer of paper roll assembly, the linear module 91 drives the stacking bin 92 to reset, ready to receive the next paper roll assembly. The above following and resetting actions are repeated, so that multiple paper roll assemblies are stacked layer by layer in the stacking bin 92. The number of stacked layers can be set by the system within the range of 2 to 30 layers, which users can choose according to product specifications to achieve flexible production.

[0061] Once the set number of stacked layers is reached, solenoid valve 923 switches the air path, driving cylinder 924 to move. This, via synchronous belt 925, causes two sliders 927 to move in the opposite direction along linear guide rail 926, simultaneously opening the two half-plate receiving plates 922. The entire stack of products falls by gravity onto the post-stack conveyor line 93 below. After the receiving plates 922 open, driving cylinder 924 reverses its movement, causing the two half-plate receiving plates 922 to close synchronously towards each other, preparing for the next stacking. The post-stack conveyor line 93 receives the entire stack of products and transports it to the unloading buffer line 94, from where it is conveyed to the downstream automatic packaging system.

[0062] The working process of the automatic paper feeding and stacking device for cakes in this embodiment is as follows: First, the paper feeding mechanism 5 separates the stacked paper dividers 10 one by one and outputs them to the paper divider conveyor 6. The paper divider conveyor 6 adsorbs the paper dividers 10 onto the surface of the conveyor belt 61 by negative pressure adsorption and conveys them to the feed conveyor 8 along the conveying direction. At the same time, the feed conveyor 1 conveys the cakes 11 produced by the upstream cake-making equipment to the gripping range of the cake gripping mechanism 4. The first vision unit 2 acquires the position information of the cakes 11 on the feed conveyor 1 and detects whether there are defects such as holes or hair strands on the surface of the cakes 11. If the biscuit 11 is defective, the biscuit gripping mechanism 4 abandons the gripping, and the defective biscuit falls into the tail collection box along with the incoming material conveyor 1; if the biscuit 11 is qualified, the biscuit gripping mechanism 4, based on the position information of the biscuit 11 provided by the first vision unit 2 and the position information of the paper separator 10 provided by the second vision unit 7, drives the contour vacuum suction plate 42 through the parallel robot 41 to grip the biscuit 11 from the incoming material conveyor 1, and places the biscuit 11 at a preset position on the paper separator 10 conveyed by the paper separator conveyor 6, forming a biscuit-paper assembly. Figure 13 As shown, when the biscuit gripping mechanism 4 places the biscuit 11 on the paper divider 10, the center of the biscuit 11 is not located at the center of the paper divider 10, but rather relative to the center of the paper divider 10 along the conveying direction. Figure 13 The offset distance is set in the opposite direction of the arrow (pointed to by the arrow). The purpose of setting this offset distance is that when the paper biscuit assembly is accelerated and thrown out by the feeding conveyor 8 and enters the air flight stage, due to inertia, the biscuit 11 slides relative to the paper divider 10 in the conveying direction. When the sliding amount reaches the predetermined offset distance, the biscuit 11 is exactly located at the center position of the paper divider 10, thereby achieving automatic centering in the air before entering the stacking bin 92. The paper biscuit assembly is conveyed to the feeding conveyor 8 by the paper divider conveyor 6. After receiving the paper biscuit assembly, the feeding conveyor 8 accelerates the output of the paper biscuit assembly at a preset speed, so that the paper biscuit assembly maintains an approximately horizontal flight attitude as it enters the stacking mechanism 9. When the paper biscuit assembly reaches the output end of the feeding conveyor 8, the photoelectric sensor 81 senses the arrival of the paper biscuit assembly and sends a signal to the stacking mechanism 9. The linear module 91 drives the stacking bin 92 to move along the conveying direction to follow the paper biscuit assembly, so that the paper biscuit assembly enters the cylinder 921 at a relatively small relative speed. The paper roll assembly falls onto the receiving plate 922 under the guidance and limiting action of the cylinder 921. Then, the linear module 91 drives the stacking bin 92 to reset, ready to receive the next paper roll assembly. This following and resetting action is repeated, causing multiple paper roll assemblies to be stacked layer by layer within the stacking bin 92. When the set number of layers is reached, the drive cylinder 924 drives the receiving plate 922 to open, and the entire stack of products falls into the post-stack conveyor line 93. From there, it is transported to the unloading buffer line 94, and then to the downstream automatic packaging system.

[0063] Throughout the entire process, the paper feeding step (the paper feeding mechanism 5 separates sheets one by one and outputs paper separators 10, and the paper conveyor 6 transports paper separators 10) and the cake placement step (the cake grasping mechanism 4 grasps the cake 11 and places it on the paper separator 10) are executed in parallel in time and do not wait for each other. The paper feeding and cake grasping are independent of each other, thus achieving temporal decoupling between paper feeding and cake grasping.

[0064] This device adopts a modular design, with one unit connecting to one cake-making machine. Stacks of cakes from multiple units can converge on a shared conveyor line and enter the downstream automated packaging system. The production line can be flexibly expanded in parallel according to capacity requirements. When changing production, parameters such as the number of stacking layers can be set by the system through the cantilever screen 34, without the need to modify the mechanical structure, making production changeover convenient.

Claims

1. An automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type food products, characterized in that, include: The paper feeding mechanism (5), the paper conveyor (6), the cake gripping mechanism (4), the feeding conveyor (8), and the stacking mechanism (9) are arranged sequentially along the conveying direction. The paper feeding mechanism (5) is used to separate the stacked paper sheets (10) one by one and output them to the paper conveyor (6). The paper conveyor (6) is used to receive the paper (10) output by the paper feeding mechanism (5) and to convey the paper (10) to the unloading conveyor (8); The cake gripping mechanism (4) is located on one side of the paper conveyor (6) and is used to grip the cake (11) from the upstream material inlet and place the cake (11) on the paper (10) conveyed by the paper conveyor (6) to form a cake-paper assembly. The feeding conveyor (8) is used to receive the paper roll assembly output by the paper separator conveyor (6) and to transport the paper roll assembly to the stacking mechanism (9); The stacking mechanism (9) is located at the output end of the feeding conveyor (8) and includes a stacking bin (92) and a linear module (91). The linear module (91) is used to drive the stacking bin (92) to move back and forth along the conveying direction to receive the paper assemblies output by the feeding conveyor (8) and stack multiple paper assemblies into a stack.

2. The automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods according to claim 1, characterized in that, The paper feeding mechanism (5) is a collating machine. The collating machine includes a paper placement platform (52) and a collating mechanism (53). The paper placement platform (52) is used to accommodate stacked paper sheets (10). The collating mechanism (53) is used to separate the paper sheets (10) on the paper placement platform (52) one by one and output them to the paper conveyor (6).

3. The automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods according to claim 1, characterized in that, The paper conveyor (6) includes a conveyor belt (61), a negative pressure chamber (63) and a negative pressure fan (62). The conveyor belt (61) has a plurality of adsorption holes (64) on its surface. The negative pressure chamber (63) is located inside the conveyor belt (61) and is connected to the negative pressure fan (62). The adsorption holes (64) are connected to the negative pressure chamber (63).

4. The automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods according to claim 1, characterized in that, The biscuit gripping mechanism (4) includes a parallel robot (41) and a vacuum adsorption component. The vacuum adsorption component is located at the execution end of the parallel robot (41) and includes a contour vacuum suction plate (42).

5. The automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods according to claim 1, characterized in that, The stacking bin (92) includes a cylinder (921), a receiving plate (922), and an opening and closing drive mechanism; the cylinder (921) is vertically arranged, and the receiving plate (922) is movably arranged at the bottom of the cylinder (921) for receiving the paper roll assembly output by the feeding conveyor (8) when in the closed position; the opening and closing drive mechanism is connected to the receiving plate (922) for driving the receiving plate (922) to switch between the closed position and the open position.

6. The automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods according to claim 5, characterized in that, The stacking mechanism (9) also includes a post-stack conveyor line (93), which is located below the stacking bin (92).

7. The automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a material conveyor (1), which is located on one side of the cake gripping mechanism (4) and is used to transport upstream material to the gripping range of the cake gripping mechanism (4).

8. The automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods according to claim 7, characterized in that, It also includes a first vision unit (2) and a second vision unit (7); the first vision unit (2) is disposed above the incoming material conveyor (1) and is used to obtain the position information of the cake (11) conveyed by the incoming material conveyor (1); the second vision unit (7) is disposed above the paper separator conveyor (6) and is used to obtain the position information of the paper separator (10) conveyed by the paper separator conveyor (6).

9. The automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for cake-type foods according to claim 1, characterized in that, The output end of the feeding conveyor (8) is equipped with a photoelectric sensor (81) for sensing the arrival of the paper cake assembly.

10. A method for automatically stacking and feeding biscuits using the automatic paper-feeding and stacking device for biscuits according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Paper feeding step: The stacked paper separators (10) are separated one by one and conveyed along the conveying direction by the paper feeding mechanism (5); The cake-laying step: The cake-grabbing mechanism (4) grabs the cake (11) from the upstream material source and places the cake (11) on the paper separator (10) conveyed by the paper separator conveyor (6). The cake (11) is located at a preset position on the opposite side of the conveying direction relative to the paper separator (10), forming a cake-paper assembly. Material feeding and conveying steps: The paper cake assembly is received by the material feeding conveyor (8), and the material feeding conveyor (8) is controlled to output the paper cake assembly at a preset speed; Stacking steps: When the paper roll assembly is output by the feeding conveyor (8), the stacking bin (92) is driven to move along the conveying direction by the linear module (91) to follow the paper roll assembly, so that the paper roll assembly enters the stacking bin (92), and then the stacking bin (92) is driven to reset by the linear module (91); the above following and resetting actions are repeated so that multiple paper roll assemblies are stacked layer by layer in the stacking bin (92).

Images