An automated apparatus for casting surface scanning
By combining line-scan laser measurement with an XYZ coordinate measuring machine and a rotary motor to scan the surface of castings, the problems of low efficiency and insufficient accuracy in traditional casting inspection have been solved, enabling efficient and accurate inspection and automated grinding of casting surfaces.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202611366631.4
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2026-09-04
- Publication Date
- 2026-11-06
AI Technical Summary
Traditional casting inspection methods are inefficient, subjective, and unable to quantify data, making them difficult to adapt to automated production lines. Furthermore, contact coordinate measuring machines are slow and cannot meet the production needs of complex castings.
By combining line-scan laser measurement with an XYZ coordinate measuring machine and a rotary motor, the surface scanning of castings is automated. The laser line scanning device and the moving mechanism move in the XYZ directions, and work in conjunction with the workpiece turntable to perform three-dimensional scanning, thereby achieving data quantification.
It improves the processing accuracy and efficiency of automated grinding of castings, and enables efficient and accurate inspection of the casting surface.
Smart Images
Figure CN123047119A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention belongs to the field of casting grinding technology and relates to an automated device for scanning the surface of castings. Background Technology
[0002] Castings are core components in equipment manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and other fields. Their surface quality (dimensional accuracy, defects, roughness) directly determines the performance, safety and lifespan of the entire machine, thus requiring grinding. However, castings are generally complex in shape, rough in surface and uneven in reflection, and traditional inspection and scanning methods have the drawbacks of large errors and inability to quantify data.
[0003] Traditional manual visual / tool inspection methods are extremely inefficient, highly subjective, have a high rate of missed inspections, cannot quantify data, have large fatigue errors, and are difficult to adapt to automated production lines. Contact coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) collect data point by point, are slow, cannot match the cycle time of casting production lines, and require a large number of measurement programs to be manually written for complex castings, resulting in long debugging cycles. Summary of the Invention
[0004] The technical problem solved by this invention is to provide an automated device for scanning the surface of castings. By measuring the castings with a line-scan laser, the data that needs to be compensated can be quantified, thereby improving the processing accuracy and efficiency of automated grinding of castings.
[0005] This invention is achieved through the following technical solution: An automated device for scanning the surface of castings includes a mounting frame, a scanning mechanism, and a scanning control cabinet located next to a casting grinding machine; The scanning mechanism includes a laser line scanning device connected to a moving mechanism via a rotary motor. The laser line scanning device includes a laser box connected to the rotary motor via a connector. The laser box contains a laser head that can emit line scanning laser and a line laser contour sensor that provides feedback on the surface coordinates of the casting. The moving mechanism includes an X-axis module, a Y-axis module, and a Z-axis module mounted on a mounting frame and connected in sequence, which can respectively drive the rotary motor and the laser line scanning device to move along the X, Y, and Z directions; the rotary motor can drive the laser line scanning device to rotate circumferentially. The scanning control cabinet is equipped with a module servo driver. The industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine periodically reads and writes the registers of the module servo driver to issue scanning position commands, monitor the running status in real time, and collect feedback data. The line laser profile sensor is connected to the industrial Ethernet of the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine via a communication protocol, enabling bidirectional data communication between the scanning mechanism and the casting grinding machine.
[0006] Furthermore, the X-axis module includes a lead screw and a servo motor that drives its movement. The lead screw is equipped with a lead screw nut seat to convert the rotational motion of the servo motor into linear motion. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the Y-axis module. The Y-axis module also includes a lead screw, a servo motor, and a lead screw nut seat. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the Z-axis module. The Z-axis module also includes a lead screw, a servo motor, and a lead screw nut seat. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the rotary motor. The servo motor of the Z-axis module is also equipped with a brake to prevent the module from falling after power failure.
[0007] Furthermore, the line laser profile sensor is connected to the industrial Ethernet of the casting grinding machine's control computer via the Modbus TCP / IP protocol.
[0008] Furthermore, the mounting frame is also equipped with vertically mounted light curtains and horizontally mounted light curtains respectively. The light curtain control device is directly connected to the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine using a hard-wired connection. The output signal of the light curtain is directly connected to the dedicated safety input channel of the grinding machine. When the light curtain detection area is invaded, the safety circuit is immediately disconnected, triggering an emergency shutdown of the casting grinding machine; after the light curtain is reset, the casting grinding machine can only resume operation after manual confirmation.
[0009] Furthermore, the vertically installed light curtain is installed at the front of the mounting frame; the horizontally installed light curtain is installed below the mounting frame and the perimeter netting.
[0010] Furthermore, under the control of the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine, the moving mechanism and rotary motor cooperate with the workpiece rotary table of the casting grinding machine to perform three-dimensional scanning of the casting: The moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Z directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the side of the casting; after one side is scanned, the workpiece turntable rotates 90 degrees, and the line scanning laser continues to scan the side of the workpiece until the workpiece turntable rotates 360 degrees and the scanning ends. After the side scan is completed, the rotary motor rotates 180°; the moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Y directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the top surface of the casting; after the scan is completed, the workpiece turntable rotates 180°, and the moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Y directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the bottom surface of the casting.
[0011] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial technical effects: The automated surface scanning equipment for castings provided by this invention integrates the motion mechanisms in the XYZ directions into one unit and connects them to a laser line scanning mechanism. The laser line scanning mechanism can be rotated independently by a cylinder or motor. A three-coordinate module drives the line scanning laser to move along the XYZ directions, scanning the side and top (bottom) surfaces of the workpiece. Utilizing the workpiece turntable of the grinding machine, the XZ-direction movement of the three-coordinate module of the laser line scanning device enables the line scanning laser to detect the side of the workpiece. A rotary motor at the connection between the line scanning laser and the three-coordinate module can change the laser position. Combined with the XY-direction movement of the laser line scanning device and the workpiece turntable, the laser can scan the top surface of the workpiece, completing the three-dimensional detection or measurement of the casting. This quantifies the data requiring compensation, improving the processing accuracy and efficiency of automated grinding of castings. Attached Figure Description
[0012] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a line scanning mechanism for a casting cutting and grinding integrated machine; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a line scanning mechanism; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a laser line scanning device; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the casting to be polished. Figure 5 A point cloud diagram of the casting to be polished; Figure 6 A schematic diagram showing the reference deviation values of the casting to be ground; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the G-code for the casting to be polished.
[0013] Among them, 1 is a casting grinding machine, 2 is a scanning mechanism, 3 is a scanning control cabinet, 4 is a first workpiece turntable, 5 is a second workpiece turntable, 6 is a rotary table; 11 is a mounting frame, 12 is an X-axis module, 13 is a Y-axis module, 14 is a Z-axis module, 15 is a rotary motor, 16 is a laser line scanning device, 17 is a vertical light curtain, 18 is a horizontal light curtain, 31 is a connector, 32 is a laser box, and 33 is a line scanning laser. Detailed Implementation The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to embodiments. These descriptions are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
[0014] See Figures 1-3 An automated device for scanning the surface of castings includes a mounting frame 11, a scanning mechanism 2, and a scanning control cabinet 3, which are installed next to a casting grinding machine 1. The scanning mechanism 2 includes a laser line scanning device 16 connected to the moving mechanism via a rotary motor 15. The laser line scanning device 16 includes a laser box 32 connected to the rotary motor 15 via a connector 31. The laser box 32 is equipped with a laser head that can emit line scanning laser 33 and a line laser contour sensor (such as Deepview's SR5320) that provides feedback on the surface coordinates of the casting. The moving mechanism includes an X-axis module 12, a Y-axis module 13, and a Z-axis module 14 mounted on the mounting frame 11 and connected in sequence, which can drive the rotary motor and the laser line scanning device to move along the X, Y, and Z directions respectively; the rotary motor 15 can drive the laser line scanning device 16 to rotate circumferentially. The scanning control cabinet 3 is equipped with a module servo driver. The industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine periodically reads and writes the register of the module servo driver to issue scanning position commands, monitor the running status in real time, and collect feedback data to ensure the accuracy of the scanning action. The line laser profile sensor is connected to the industrial Ethernet of the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine via a communication protocol, enabling bidirectional data communication between the scanning mechanism and the casting grinding machine.
[0015] Specifically, the X-axis module 11 includes a lead screw and a servo motor that drives its movement. The lead screw is equipped with a lead screw nut seat to convert the rotational motion of the servo motor into linear motion. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the Y-axis module 13. The Y-axis module 13 also includes a lead screw, a servo motor, and a lead screw nut seat. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the Z-axis module 14. Z-axis module 14 also includes a lead screw, a servo motor, and a lead screw nut seat. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the rotary motor 15 or the connector 31. The servo motor of the Z-axis module is also equipped with a brake to prevent the module from falling after power failure.
[0016] During assembly, the X-axis module, Y-axis module, and Z-axis module are all driven by servo motors to move the lead screw. The lead screw is equipped with a lead screw nut seat, and the nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the Y-axis module. The Y-axis module is fixed on the mounting plate and then mounted as a whole on the motion mounting plate of the X-axis module to achieve movement in the XY direction on the plane. The mounting plate of the Z-axis module is fixedly connected to the motion mounting plate of the Y-axis module, and the laser line scanning device is installed on the mounting plate of the Z-axis module to achieve movement in the XYZ directions.
[0017] Specifically, the line laser profile sensor is connected to the industrial Ethernet of the casting grinding machine's control computer via the Modbus TCP / IP protocol.
[0018] Furthermore, the mounting frame is also equipped with a vertically mounted light curtain (vertical light curtain 17) and a horizontally mounted light curtain (horizontal light curtain 18). The light curtain control device is directly connected to the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine using a hard-wired connection. The output signal of the light curtain is directly connected to the dedicated safety input channel of the grinding machine. When the light curtain detection area is invaded, the safety circuit immediately disconnects, triggering an emergency shutdown of the casting grinding machine to ensure personnel safety. After the light curtain is reset, the casting grinding machine can only resume operation after manual confirmation. This solution does not rely on communication protocols, has a fast response speed, high reliability, and meets the mandatory requirements of safety interlocks in industrial sites.
[0019] Specifically, the vertically installed light curtain is positioned at the front of the mounting frame; the horizontally installed light curtain is positioned below the mounting frame and the perimeter fence. The vertical light curtain prevents personnel from accidentally entering the equipment's movement area during operation; the horizontal light curtain prevents personnel from remaining within the equipment's movement area while it is in motion.
[0020] The workpiece turntable allows the casting to rotate independently, facilitating scanning and grinding. Specifically, a turntable 6 can be installed on the casting grinding machine. The turntable 6 includes a first workpiece turntable 4 and a second workpiece turntable 5 arranged back-to-back, enabling rapid exchange between the first and second castings, i.e., quickly exchanging the casting to be scanned and the casting to be scanned. The XYZ three-directional module can control the line scanning laser device to move in three directions, and the 15 rotary motor can change the direction of the 16 laser line scanning device. Under the control of the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine, the moving mechanism, the rotary motor, and the workpiece turntable of the casting grinding machine cooperate to perform three-dimensional scanning of the casting. After placing the casting to be processed on the first workpiece turntable and confirming the loading, the scanning mechanism starts running. The moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Z directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the side of the casting; after one side is scanned, the workpiece turntable rotates 90 degrees, and the line scanning laser continues to scan the side of the workpiece until the workpiece turntable rotates 360 degrees and the scanning ends. After the side scan is completed, the rotary motor rotates 180°; the moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Y directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the top surface of the casting; after the scan is completed, the workpiece turntable rotates 180°, and the moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Y directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the bottom surface of the casting.
[0021] After scanning, the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine acquires the three-dimensional data of the casting. Based on the sample process program and grinding trajectory, it selects the area and direction of compensation that need to be compensated in the casting. According to the preset compensation algorithm, it automatically compensates the original grinding trajectory. For example, if the actual deviation of a certain area is +0.1mm (casting protrusion), the grinding depth of that area is automatically reduced by 0.1mm.
[0022] After the casting is scanned, the rotary table 6 rotates 180° to send the workpiece into the casting grinding machine to begin grinding; after manual loading, the next casting is placed on the second workpiece turntable and the loading is confirmed, the line scanning mechanism starts to run, and the scanning steps are the same as above.
[0023] The following is an example of grinding a cylinder block casting: Fix the cylinder casting onto the workpiece turntable of the grinder (e.g., Figure 4 As shown), the laser line scanning device is controlled by a moving mechanism to continuously scan along the surface to be polished. After the scanning is completed, a point cloud pattern is generated (as shown). Figure 5 (As shown).
[0024] Anchor the points according to the generated pattern, selecting locations that will require compensation in later process planning; after planning the points, move the equipment to the scanning start point and start scanning again; after scanning is complete, the reference deviation value of the casting will be read (e.g., Figure 6 As shown), that is, the data that needs to be compensated after quantification is completed (if the deviation is raised, the grinding depth of the area will be automatically reduced; otherwise, it will be strengthened).
[0025] After reading, the process is saved and G-code is generated. The G-code will contain the reference deviation data of the workpiece (e.g., ...). Figure 7 (As shown).
[0026] The scanning steps described above are repeated for subsequent castings.
[0027] The embodiments given above are preferred examples for implementing the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Any non-essential additions or substitutions made by those skilled in the art based on the technical features of the present invention are within the protection scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. An automated device for scanning the surface of castings, characterized in that, This includes a mounting bracket, scanning mechanism, and scanning control cabinet located next to the casting grinding machine; The scanning mechanism includes a laser line scanning device connected to a moving mechanism via a rotary motor. The laser line scanning device includes a laser box connected to the rotary motor via a connector. The laser box contains a laser head that can emit line scanning laser and a line laser contour sensor that provides feedback on the surface coordinates of the casting. The moving mechanism includes an X-axis module, a Y-axis module, and a Z-axis module mounted on a mounting frame and connected in sequence, which can respectively drive the rotary motor and the laser line scanning device to move along the X, Y, and Z directions; the rotary motor can drive the laser line scanning device to rotate circumferentially. The scanning control cabinet is equipped with a module servo driver. The industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine periodically reads and writes the registers of the module servo driver to issue scanning position commands, monitor the running status in real time, and collect feedback data. The line laser profile sensor is connected to the industrial Ethernet of the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine via a communication protocol, enabling bidirectional data communication between the scanning mechanism and the casting grinding machine.
2. The automated equipment for scanning the surface of castings as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The X-axis module includes a lead screw and a servo motor that drives its movement. The lead screw is equipped with a lead screw nut seat to convert the rotational motion of the servo motor into linear motion. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the Y-axis module. The Y-axis module also includes a lead screw, a servo motor, and a lead screw nut seat. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the Z-axis module. The Z-axis module also includes a lead screw, a servo motor, and a lead screw nut seat. The nut seat is equipped with a motion mounting plate for mounting the rotary motor. The servo motor of the Z-axis module is also equipped with a brake to prevent the module from falling after power failure.
3. The automated equipment for scanning the surface of castings as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The line laser profile sensor is connected to the industrial Ethernet of the casting grinding machine's control computer via the Modbus TCP / IP protocol.
4. The automated equipment for scanning the surface of castings as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The mounting frame is also equipped with vertically mounted light curtains and horizontally mounted light curtains respectively. The light curtain control device is connected to the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine by hard-wired direct connection. The output signal of the light curtain is directly connected to the dedicated safety input channel of the grinding machine. When the light curtain detection area is invaded, the safety circuit is immediately disconnected, triggering an emergency shutdown of the casting grinding machine; after the light curtain is reset, the casting grinding machine can only resume operation after manual confirmation.
5. The automated equipment for scanning the surface of castings as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The vertically installed light curtain is positioned at the front of the mounting frame; the horizontally installed light curtain is positioned below the mounting frame and the perimeter netting.
6. The automated equipment for scanning the surface of castings as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Under the control of the industrial control computer of the casting grinding machine, the moving mechanism and rotary motor cooperate with the workpiece rotary table of the casting grinding machine to perform three-dimensional scanning of the casting: The moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Z directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the side of the casting; after one side is scanned, the workpiece turntable rotates 90 degrees, and the line scanning laser continues to scan the side of the workpiece until the workpiece turntable rotates 360 degrees and the scanning ends. After the side scan is completed, the rotary motor rotates 180°; the moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Y directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the top surface of the casting; after the scan is completed, the workpiece turntable rotates 180°, and the moving mechanism drives the laser line scanning device to move along the X and Y directions respectively, so that the line scanning laser scans the bottom surface of the casting.