A fully automatic thermosetting plastic product molding machine

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of full-automatic thermosetting plastic product forming machine, including metal base unit, press unit, material handling robot, finished product handling robot and control unit;Material side base is integrated with dustproof mechanism, thermosetting powder automatic feeding unit, gold powder automatic filling unit, material box automatic cleaning unit, preheating unit and material pickup unit on, finished product side base is integrated with deburring unit and finished product pickup unit.Collaborative linkage is realized through material double-arm handling robot, finished product handling robot and each functional unit, realizes the full-process automation production of powder weighing feeding, preheating, hot-press forming, gold powder filling, secondary hot-pressing, cooling demolding, deburring and finished product transfer, with compact structure, stable beat, low dust pollution, product consistency and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of automated molding equipment technology, specifically to a fully automatic molding machine for hot pressing, conveying, post-processing and finished product output of thermosetting plastic powder products such as melamine. Background Technology

[0002] Thermosetting plastics, under heat and pressure, form an irreversible three-dimensional network structure, exhibiting excellent heat resistance, mechanical strength, dimensional stability, insulation, and corrosion resistance. These plastics result in aesthetically pleasing and diverse designs, making them widely used in tableware, electronics, and building materials. However, the production of thermosetting plastic products, especially melamine products, has long relied on manual or semi-automatic equipment for key processes such as powder metering, preheating, hot pressing, demolding, gold plating, decal application, and deflashing. Existing equipment is mostly designed for single processes, making it difficult to achieve closed-loop automation from raw material feeding to finished product output. This leads to unstable production cycles, high labor costs, severe dust pollution, and poor product consistency. The existing technology for thermosetting plastic product molding suffers from fragmented processes, low automation, significant dust emissions, and frequent manual intervention. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a compact, fully functional, and continuously operating fully automated thermosetting plastic product molding equipment. Summary of the Invention

[0003] For the compression molding process of thermosetting plastic powders such as melamine, multiple process equipment, including the barrel, feeding and weighing device, preheater, molding machine, gold powder sprinkler, cleaning device, transfer and lifting device (decal unit), and deflashing device, are specially and rationally designed and arranged. A dual-arm robot is used to connect the processes of each device to establish a stable, efficient, and intelligent manufacturing method. This optimizes the powder loading, heating and curing, pressure control, and quality monitoring processes, thereby improving the consistency of product dimensions, molding quality, and the level of production automation.

[0004] A fully automatic thermosetting plastic product molding machine is provided, characterized in that it includes a metal base unit, a press unit disposed between a material-side base and a finished product-side base of the metal base unit, a material handling robot with two arms, a finished product handling robot, and a control unit; the material-side base is provided with a dustproof mechanism, an automatic thermosetting powder feeding unit, an automatic gold powder filling unit, an automatic material box cleaning unit, a preheating unit, and a material picking unit; the finished product-side base is provided with a deflashing unit and a finished product picking unit; the material handling robot with two arms is used to automatically transfer material boxes, powder cakes, and gold powder boxes between various workstations, and the finished product handling robot is used to transfer finished products to the deflashing unit and the unloading station;

[0005] Specifically, the fully automatic thermosetting plastic product molding machine is characterized in that the dustproof mechanism includes an automatically opening and closing dustproof cover and a dust collection and recovery device installed inside the dustproof cover. During feeding, transfer and cleaning operations, the dustproof cover and the dust collection and recovery device are linked to perform opening and closing actions to form a closed dust control space.

[0006] The automatic feeding unit for thermosetting powder includes an automatic stirring mechanism, a powder hopper, a vibrator, an electronic scale, a rotary displacement mechanism, a material pile leveling device, and an automatic lifting platform; the automatic stirring mechanism is used to prevent powder bridging, the electronic scale is used for quantitative weighing, and the material pile leveling device is used to level and shape the weighed powder.

[0007] The automatic gold powder filling unit includes a gold powder hopper, a vibrator, an electronic scale, a rotary replacement mechanism, and an automatic lifting platform, which are used to quantitatively fill gold powder and transfer it to a designated workstation.

[0008] The automatic cleaning unit for the material box includes a tilting platform, a multi-link device, a rotary motor, a locking device, a lifting cylinder, a brush, and a powder spraying device, which are used to tilt and clean the material box and spray talcum powder.

[0009] The preheating unit includes a base, a microwave heater, and an automatic lid opening control unit. The automatic lid opening control unit includes a controller, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a timer, which are used to preheat the powder or powder cake in the material box and automatically control the lid opening sequence.

[0010] The material handling robot includes a lower arm for handling material boxes and an upper arm for gripping powder cakes and filling gold powder. Both the upper arm and the lower arm include an XYZ three-axis linear motion mechanism, and each axis is rigidly connected by a connecting plate.

[0011] The material picking unit is mounted on the upper arm end of the material handling robot via an end effector frame. The material picking unit includes a pressure reducing valve, a solenoid valve, a variable amplitude mechanism, a sensor, a connecting plate, a rotary cylinder, and a pneumatic gripper, and is used to realize the clamping, flipping, and powder cake grabbing of the material box.

[0012] Beneficial effects

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0014] By integrating feeding, preheating, hot pressing, powder filling, cartridge cleaning, deflashing, and finished product gripping and transfer into a single machine base structure, the entire process is automated and closed-loop, significantly improving production efficiency and product consistency. A dual-arm material handling robot enables coordinated operation of cartridge conveying and powder cake gripping / powder filling, reducing station changeover waiting time and improving equipment cycle stability. The dust cover and dust collection and recovery device are linked for simultaneous dust control and recovery, reducing environmental pollution and improving working conditions. The preheating unit and press unit are linked to improve the uniformity of thermosetting powder molding and reduce defect rates. Automatic cartridge cleaning and powder spraying mechanisms enable cartridge recycling, reducing consumable costs and minimizing manual intervention. An integrated deflashing unit on the finished product side enables automatic post-processing after demolding, reducing manual trimming and improving finished product quality. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the device described in this invention;

[0016] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the dustproof mechanism;

[0017] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the discharge structure of the automatic powder feeding unit;

[0018] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the conveying and weighing structure of an automatic feeding unit for thermosetting powders;

[0019] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the gold powder automatic filling unit;

[0020] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the automatic cleaning unit for the material box;

[0021] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the preheating unit.

[0022] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the dual-arm material handling robot.

[0023] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the material picking unit;

[0024] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the deflash removal unit;

[0025] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the finished product picking unit;

[0026] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the human-machine interface of the control unit in an embodiment.

[0027] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of a complete product molding and processing flow.

[0028] Figures 1-12 The components include: 1. Metal base unit; 2. Press unit; 3. Dustproof mechanism; 4. Automatic powder feeding unit; 5. Automatic gold powder filling unit; 6. Automatic material box cleaning unit; 7. Preheating unit; 8. Dual-arm material handling robot; 9. Material picking unit; 10. Deburring unit; 11. Finished product handling robot; 12. Finished product picking unit; 13. Control unit; 301. Dustproof cover; 302. Dust collection and recovery device; 401. Automatic mixing mechanism. 402. Powder hopper; 403. Vibrator; 404. Electronic scale; 405. Rotary replacement mechanism one; 406. Rotary replacement mechanism two; 407. Material pile leveling device; 408. Automatic lifting platform; 501. Gold powder hopper; 502. Vibrator; 503. Electronic scale; 504. Rotary replacement mechanism; 505. Automatic lifting platform; 601. Tilting platform; 602. Multi-link device; 603. Rotary motor; 604. Locking device; 605. Top Lifting cylinder; 606, brush; 607, powder spraying device; 701, base; 702, microwave heater; 703, automatic lid opening control unit; 801, lower arm of the dual-arm material handling robot; 802, upper arm of the dual-arm material handling robot; 901, end effector frame; 902, pressure reducing valve; 903, solenoid valve; 904, amplitude changing mechanism; 905, sensor; 906, connecting plate; 907, rotary cylinder; 908, pneumatic gripper; 1001, lifting and leveling device. 1002. Platform; 1003. Cylinder; 1004. Frame; 1005. Moving platform; 1006. Linear cylinder; 1007. Bowl tool; 1201. Frame; 1202. Longitudinal adjustment mechanism; 1203. Lateral adjustment mechanism; 1204. Nozzle; 1205. Suction cup; 1301. Developer login button; 1302. Operator login button; 1303. System status operation button; 1304. Unit operation button; 1305. Parameter setting button. Detailed Implementation

[0029] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0030] like Figure 1 As shown, the fully automatic thermosetting plastic product molding machine of the present invention includes: a metal base unit 1, a press unit 2, a material handling robot 8, a finished product handling robot 11, and a control unit 13. The metal base unit 1 is divided into a material-side base and a finished product-side base, and the press unit 2 is arranged between the two to form a linear workstation layout for raw material input, molding processing, and finished product output, thereby reducing mechanical interference and improving logistics efficiency.

[0031] like Figure 2 As shown, the dust control mechanism 3 includes an automatically opening and closing dust cover 301 and a dust collection and recovery device 302 installed inside the dust cover 301. During the automatic feeding stage, the dust cover 301 is closed to prevent dust from escaping, while the dust collection and recovery device 302 can be turned on or off according to the process status. During the dust cleaning and recovery stage, the dust cover 301 is closed and the dust collection and recovery device 302 is turned on to draw the escaped dust into the recovery system, thereby reducing environmental pollution.

[0032] like Figure 3 , Figure 4 As shown, the automatic feeding unit 4 for thermosetting powder is divided into a discharge structure and a conveying and weighing structure, including an automatic stirring mechanism 401, a powder hopper 402, a vibrator 403, an electronic scale 404, a rotary displacement mechanism 405, a rotary displacement mechanism 406, a material pile leveling device 407, and an automatic lifting platform 408. The automatic stirring mechanism 401 is used to prevent powder from bridging and clogging in the hopper; the vibrator 403 evenly feeds the powder to the electronic scale 404 for quantitative weighing; the rotary displacement mechanism 405 transfers the weighed powder to the material pile leveling device 407 to make the powder layer thickness uniform, and then the rotary displacement mechanism 406 transfers it to the automatic lifting platform 408, thereby improving the consistency of powder cake formation.

[0033] like Figure 5 As shown, the automatic gold powder filling unit 5 includes a gold powder hopper 501, a vibrator 502, an electronic scale 503, a rotary displacement mechanism 504, and an automatic lifting platform 505. The vibrator 502 evenly feeds the gold powder to the electronic scale 503 for quantitative weighing. When the preset mass is reached, the feeding stops. The rotary displacement mechanism 504 transfers the hopper containing the gold powder to the automatic lifting platform 505 and delivers it to the designated workstation, realizing the automation and stability of gold powder addition.

[0034] like Figure 6 As shown, the automatic cleaning unit 6 for the material box includes a tilting platform 601, a multi-link device 602, a rotary motor 603, a locking device 604, a lifting cylinder 605, a brush 606, and a powder spraying device 607. During operation, the empty material box is placed on the tilting platform 601 and fixed by the multi-link device 602. Then, the rotary motor 603 tilts the platform 601 180 degrees and locks it with the locking device 604. The lifting cylinder 605 drives the brush 606 to scrub the inner wall of the material box. After completion, the brush returns to its original position. The powder spraying device 607 sprays talcum powder into the material box to reduce adhesion. Then, the rotary motor 603 returns the tilting platform 601 to its original position, and the multi-link device 602 releases the material box, ready to proceed to the next stage.

[0035] like Figure 7As shown, the preheating unit 7 includes a base 701, a microwave heater 702, and an automatic lid opening control unit 703. The automatic lid opening control unit 703 includes at least a controller, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a timer, and is used to automatically control the opening and closing of the lid, temperature maintenance, and heating time according to the heating process, thereby completing the preheating treatment of powder or powder cake and improving the fluidity and density during hot pressing.

[0036] like Figure 8 As shown, the material handling robot 8 includes a lower arm 801 for handling material boxes and an upper arm 802 for gripping powder cakes and filling gold powder. Both the upper and lower arms can be equipped with XYZ three-axis linear motion mechanisms. The three axes adopt lead screw transmission or equivalent linear drive and are rigidly connected by connecting plates to achieve high positioning accuracy and multi-station collaborative handling.

[0037] like Figure 9 As shown, the material picking unit 9 is installed at the end of the upper arm 802 via the end-feeder frame 901. It includes a pressure reducing valve 902, a solenoid valve 903, a variable amplitude mechanism 904, a sensor 905, a connecting plate 906, a rotary cylinder 907, and a pneumatic gripper 908. It is used to complete the material box clamping, flipping, posture adjustment, and powder cake grabbing, and the sensor 905 confirms the clamping status to improve the reliability of material picking.

[0038] like Figure 10 As shown, the deflash removal unit 10 includes a lifting platform 1001, a cylinder 1002, a frame 1003, a moving platform 1004, a linear cylinder 1005, and a bowl tool 1006. The lifting platform 1001 and the cylinder 1002 constitute a lifting mechanism, while the moving platform 1004, the linear cylinder 1005, and the bowl tool 1006 constitute a deflashing mechanism. During operation, the product is fed onto the lifting platform 1001 by the material end pick-up device. The cylinder 1002 drives the lifting platform 1001 to descend, and the linear cylinder 1005 controls the moving platform 1004 to be directly above the lifting platform 1001. Subsequently, the lifting mechanism rises, and the bowl tool 1006 contacts the product and removes the deflash.

[0039] like Figure 11 As shown, the finished product picking unit 12 is connected to the end of the finished product handling robot 11 via a frame 1201, and includes a longitudinal adjustment mechanism 1202, a lateral adjustment mechanism 1203, a nozzle 1204, and a suction cup 1205. The longitudinal adjustment mechanism 1202 is connected to the frame 1201 and is used to adjust the longitudinal position of the lower mechanism; the lateral adjustment mechanism 1203 is used to adjust the lateral position of the nozzle 1204 and the suction cup 1205; the nozzle 1204 is used for jet cooling of the product and cleaning of the press mold, and the suction cup 1205 is used for adsorption and handling of the finished product, thereby realizing the automatic transfer and unloading of the finished product.

[0040] like Figure 12As shown, the control unit 13 includes a human-machine interface, a control cabinet, and multiple status sensors. The human-machine interface can be configured with a developer login button 1301, an operator login button 1302, a system status operation button 1303, a unit operation button 1304, and a parameter setting button 1305 to meet needs such as program debugging, automatic operation, reset, alarm viewing, and parameter modification. Multiple status sensors are used to collect the position and motion status of each moving mechanism, forming a closed-loop control with the controller.

[0041] like Figure 13 As shown, a complete process mainly includes: cleaning the material box → metering the powder → homogenizing the powder → preheating → placing it into the mold → solid molding → (decal application →) sprinkling hot powder → thermosetting → demolding → unloading → removing flash → sanding → inspection → packaging → stacking. The embodiment is for a plain surface process, which does not require a decal application step. This patent also does not show a decal application device; therefore, the decal application step is marked in parentheses in the process flow to distinguish it.

[0042] The specific working process of the embodiment is as follows:

[0043] (1) The automatic stirring mechanism in the hopper of the automatic powder weighing and feeding unit breaks the powder bridge and starts according to the feedback information of the sensor in the hopper; the vibrator shakes the powder in the hopper down, and the powder enters the material box. The electronic scale weighs the powder and the material box. When the mass displayed by the electronic scale reaches the predetermined value, the vibrator is turned off. After the material pile leveling device performs in-situ shaking, leveling and shaping, the powder weighing is completed. The material box containing the weighed amount of powder is rotated 180 degrees horizontally by the rotation replacement mechanism and transferred to the automatic lifting platform conveying position. The automatic lifting platform lifts the material box to the feeding position of the preheating unit.

[0044] (2) The material box containing the powder in the feeding position of the preheating unit is transported to the preheating position of the preheating unit by the upper arm and end effector of the material handling robot. The handling robot and end effector are withdrawn to the waiting position. After the preheating box cover is closed, the powder in the box is preheated. After the preheating is completed, the closed space of the preheating unit is opened, and the upper arm of the material handling robot moves the box to the powder cake gripping station (i.e. the box cleaning unit turning table) and clamps and fixes the box.

[0045] (3) The upper arm of the dual-arm robot flips over, and the gripper of the end effector takes out the preheated powder cake from the material box and moves it to the top of the mold of the press unit. The gripper of the end effector releases the powder cake and puts it into the lower cavity of the mold. The upper arm of the dual-arm robot and the end effector are withdrawn to the waiting position. The press drives the upper mold to close and hot press the powder cake.

[0046] Simultaneously, the automatic cleaning unit is activated. A multi-link mechanism secures the empty material box to the tilting platform. A rotary motor rotates the platform 180 degrees and locks it in place. A brush cleans the empty material box, and after cleaning, the brush returns to its original position. Then, a powder spraying device sprays talcum powder into the empty material box. After spraying, the powder spraying device returns to its original position. The rotary motor then rotates the platform 180 degrees to its original position, and the multi-link mechanism releases the material box, completing the cleaning process. The cleaned empty material box is then transported to the powder weighing station by a material handling robot and an automatic lifting platform, enabling the material box to be reused.

[0047] At the same time, the automatic gold powder filling unit is started. The vibrator vibrates the gold powder in the gold powder hopper down into the gold powder box, where it is weighed by an electronic scale. When the gold powder mass displayed by the electronic scale reaches the predetermined value, the gold powder unit is turned off. The box containing gold powder is moved to the automatic lifting platform by the rotary replacement mechanism. The box containing gold powder is transported to the designated station by the automatic lifting platform, waiting for hot pressing to be completed.

[0048] (4) After hot pressing is completed, the press drives the upper mold to open, and the end effector of the material handling robot sprinkles gold powder on the workpiece in the lower mold cavity. After the gold powder is sprinkled, the end effector of the material handling robot withdraws to the waiting position, and the press closes the mold again for a second hot pressing. After the second hot pressing is completed, the press drives the upper mold to open again, and the nozzle of the finished product picking unit blows air on the workpiece in the lower mold cavity to cool and demold the workpiece. After demolding, the workpiece is picked up and transferred by the suction cup of the end effector of the finished product handling robot.

[0049] (5) The finished product handling robot will transfer the formed workpiece to the deburring station for automatic deburring. After completion, the finished product handling robot will pick it up and place it on the synchronous belt. The synchronous belt will then transfer the product to the unloading position to complete the production.

Claims

1. A fully automatic thermosetting plastic product molding machine, characterized in that, The system includes a metal base unit, a press unit disposed between a material-side base and a finished product-side base of the metal base unit, a dual-arm material handling robot, a finished product handling robot, and a control unit. The material-side base is equipped with a dustproof mechanism, an automatic thermosetting powder feeding unit, an automatic gold powder filling unit, an automatic material box cleaning unit, a preheating unit, and a material picking unit. The finished product-side base is equipped with a deflashing unit and a finished product picking unit. The dual-arm material handling robot is used to automatically transfer material boxes, powder cakes, and gold powder boxes between various workstations. The finished product handling robot is used to transfer finished products to the deflashing unit and the unloading station. Specifically, the dustproof mechanism includes an automatically opening and closing dustproof cover and a dust collection and recovery device installed inside the dustproof cover. During feeding, transfer or cleaning operations, the dustproof cover and the dust collection and recovery device are linked to open and close to form a closed dust control space. The automatic feeding unit for thermosetting powder includes an automatic stirring mechanism, a powder hopper, a vibrator, an electronic scale, a rotary displacement mechanism, a material pile leveling device, and an automatic lifting platform; the automatic stirring mechanism is used to prevent powder bridging, the electronic scale is used for quantitative weighing, and the material pile leveling device is used to level and shape the weighed powder. The automatic gold powder filling unit includes a gold powder hopper, a vibrator, an electronic scale, a rotary replacement mechanism, and an automatic lifting platform, which are used to quantitatively fill gold powder and transfer it to a designated workstation. The automatic cleaning unit for the material box includes a tilting platform, a multi-link device, a rotary motor, a locking device, a lifting cylinder, a brush, and a powder spraying device, which are used to tilt and clean the material box and spray talcum powder. The preheating unit includes a base, a microwave heater, and an automatic lid opening control unit. The automatic lid opening control unit includes a controller, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a timer, which are used to preheat the powder or powder cake in the material box and automatically control the lid opening sequence. The material handling robot includes a lower arm for handling material boxes and an upper arm for gripping powder cakes and filling gold powder. Both the upper arm and the lower arm include an XYZ three-axis linear motion mechanism, and each axis is rigidly connected by a connecting plate. The material picking unit is mounted on the upper arm end of the material handling robot via an end effector frame. The material picking unit includes a pressure reducing valve, a solenoid valve, a variable amplitude mechanism, a sensor, a connecting plate, a rotary cylinder, and a pneumatic gripper, and is used to realize the clamping, flipping, and powder cake grabbing of the material box.

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