Sundry removing system

Abstract

The utility model provides a sundry removing system, and relates to the field of tobacco production equipment. The sundry removing system comprises an identification device which is used for sending a first identification signal to the control system under the condition of identifying that the tobacco materials conveyed on the vibration groove contain the sundry; a blocking piece is arranged at the front end of the mechanical arm; the control system is connected with the recognition device and the mechanical arm, controls the turning plate of the vibration groove to be opened to remove tobacco materials containing sundries under the condition that the first recognition signal is received, and sends a first control signal to the mechanical arm. The mechanical arm moves to a first preset position under the condition that the first control signal is received so that the blocking piece can move to the position above the vibration groove and the position behind the turning plate in the conveying direction of the tobacco materials, and therefore the tobacco materials are blocked. Therefore, the tobacco materials containing the impurities and the tobacco materials conveyed subsequently can be separated, the tobacco materials containing the impurities are removed, more tobacco materials conveyed subsequently are prevented from being removed, and the impurity removing accuracy and efficiency are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of tobacco production equipment, and more specifically, to a debris removal system. Background Art

[0002] In the production process of tobacco materials, some unexpected impurities may be mixed in, affecting the normal operation of the production equipment, or even causing the production equipment to malfunction and stop. In addition, some tobacco materials containing impurities may produce odors and harmful components after burning, which not only affects the consumer experience, but also harms the consumer's health. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the impurities in the tobacco materials.

[0003] In some related technologies, foreign matter in tobacco materials can be identified by human eyes, and then the transport equipment is stopped and the tobacco materials containing foreign matter are removed by manual grabbing. Utility Model Content

[0004] A brief overview of the disclosure is given below in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. However, it should be understood that this overview is not an exhaustive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to identify the key or important parts of the disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Its purpose is simply to give some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description given later.

[0005] The method of manually identifying and removing debris in the related art is inefficient and has a low accuracy rate in removing debris, which consumes a lot of human resources.

[0006] In order to overcome at least one defect in the related art, the embodiments of the present disclosure propose the following solution.

[0007] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a debris removal system, comprising: an identification device; a robotic arm, a blocking member being provided at the front end of the robotic arm; and a control system, wherein the control system is respectively connected to the identification device and the robotic arm, wherein the identification device sends a first identification signal to the control system when identifying that tobacco material conveyed on a vibration trough contains debris, and the control system controls a flap of the vibration trough to open to remove tobacco material containing debris when receiving the first identification signal, and sends a first control signal to the robotic arm, and the robotic arm moves to a first preset position when receiving the first control signal so that the blocking member moves to the top of the vibration trough and to the rear of the flap along the conveying direction of the tobacco material, thereby blocking the tobacco material.

[0008] In some embodiments, the recognition device includes at least one of an audio recognition device and an image recognition device, wherein: the audio recognition device is connected to the control system, and when the audio recognition device recognizes that the tobacco material contains foreign matter based on an audio signal during the process of the tobacco material being conveyed on the vibration trough, the audio recognition device sends the first recognition signal to the control system; the image recognition device is connected to the control system, and when the image recognition device recognizes that the tobacco material contains foreign matter based on an image signal of the tobacco material on the vibration trough, the image recognition device sends the first recognition signal to the control system.

[0009] In some embodiments, the audio recognition device is located on a side of the vibration tank close to an entrance.

[0010] In some embodiments, a support member is provided at the front end of the robotic arm, and the blocking member is provided on the support member and includes a first blocking member and a second blocking member, wherein the first blocking member is provided on a first side of the support member, and the second blocking member is provided on a second side of the support member opposite to the first side, and the first blocking member is located behind the second blocking member in the conveying direction.

[0011] In some embodiments, when the robot arm moves to the first preset position, the bottom of the second blocking member is closer to the vibration groove in a first direction perpendicular to the conveying direction than the bottom of the first blocking member.

[0012] In some embodiments, the second blocking member is movable relative to the support member.

[0013] In some embodiments, a telescopic cylinder is provided on the second side of the support member, and the telescopic cylinder includes a fixed part and a movable part, wherein the fixed part of the telescopic cylinder is fixedly connected to the support member, and the movable part of the telescopic cylinder is connected to the second blocking member via a first connecting pipe.

[0014] In some embodiments, at least one of the first blocking member and the second blocking member is a magnetic member.

[0015] In some embodiments, the first blocking member has a first surface facing away from the conveying direction, the second blocking member has a second surface facing away from the conveying direction, and an auxiliary member is installed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface, and the auxiliary member has a pointed end away from the at least one surface.

[0016] In some embodiments, the support member is fixedly connected to the front end of the robotic arm; and / or the first blocking member is connected to the support member via a third connecting pipe.

[0017] In some embodiments, the control system periodically sends a second control signal to the identification device, and the identification device performs identification upon receiving the second control signal.

[0018] In some embodiments, the flap is disposed at an end of the vibration trough along the conveying direction.

[0019] In some embodiments, in a second direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, the width of the blocking member is greater than or equal to the width of the vibration groove.

[0020] In some embodiments, the angle between the blocking member and the conveying direction is an acute angle.

[0021] In some embodiments, the identification device sends a second identification signal to the control system when the tobacco material conveyed on the vibration trough is not identified to contain foreign matter. Upon receiving the second identification signal, the control system controls the flap to close and sends a third control signal to the robotic arm. Upon receiving the third control signal, the robotic arm moves to a second preset position so that the blocking member cannot block the tobacco material.

[0022] In some embodiments, the debris removal system also includes a pneumatic system connected to the control system, wherein the control system sends a fourth control signal to the pneumatic system when receiving the first identification signal, and the pneumatic system controls the flap to open when receiving the fourth control signal, and the control system sends a fifth control signal to the pneumatic system when receiving the second identification signal, and the pneumatic system controls the flap to close when receiving the fifth control signal.

[0023] According to the debris removal system of some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the identification device identifies that the tobacco material contains debris, the control system controls the flap to open and controls the mechanical arm to move to a preset position so that the blocking member blocks the tobacco material to separate the tobacco material containing debris from the tobacco material to be transported subsequently. In this way, the tobacco material containing debris can be automatically removed through the opened flap under the transportation of the vibration trough, which improves the efficiency of debris removal and the qualified rate of tobacco products, and saves human resources. In addition, since the blocking member blocks the tobacco material to be transported subsequently, it can prevent more tobacco materials without debris from being removed, thereby improving the accuracy of debris removal.

[0024] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, and are further used to explain the principles of the present disclosure and enable those skilled in the art to make and use the present disclosure. Among them:

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a debris removal system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0027] For ease of understanding, the position, size, range, etc. of each structure shown in the drawings and the like may not represent the actual position, size, range, etc. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the position, size, range, etc. disclosed in the drawings and the like. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement of components and steps, numerical expressions and numerical values ​​set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0029] The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is in fact merely illustrative and is in no way intended to limit the present disclosure and its application or use. That is, the structures and methods herein are shown in an exemplary manner to illustrate different embodiments of the structures and methods in the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that they merely illustrate exemplary ways of the present disclosure that can be implemented, rather than exhaustive ways. In addition, the drawings need not be drawn to scale, and some features may be enlarged to illustrate the details of specific components.

[0030] In addition, technologies, methods, and equipment known to ordinary technicians in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, the technologies, methods, and equipment should be considered as part of the specification.

[0031] In all examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values ​​should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not as limiting. Therefore, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0032] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a debris removal system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0033] like Figure 1 As shown, the debris removal system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may include an identification device 60, a mechanical arm 10 and a control system 50. The control system 50 is connected to the identification device 60 and the mechanical arm 10 respectively, and a blocking member 30 is provided at the front end of the mechanical arm 10.

[0034] When the identification device 60 identifies that the tobacco material conveyed on the vibration trough 70 contains foreign matter, the control system 50 can send a first identification signal to the control system 50. When the control system 50 receives the first identification signal, it can control the flap 71 of the vibration trough 70 to open to remove the tobacco material containing foreign matter. When the control system 50 receives the first identification signal, it can also send a first control signal to the robot arm 10. When the robot arm 10 receives the first control signal, it can move to a first preset position so that the blocking member 30 can move to the top of the vibration trough 70 and move to the flap 71 along the conveying direction of the tobacco material (such as Figure 1 The rear of the tobacco material is blocked by the outer surface of the tobacco body.

[0035] In the above embodiment, the blocking member 30 can block the transportation of tobacco materials along the conveying direction, and the blocking member 30 can isolate the tobacco materials conveyed subsequently and the tobacco materials containing foreign matter. Here, the continuous operation of the vibration trough 70 can make the tobacco materials containing foreign matter between the blocking member 30 and the flap 71 be removed through the opened flap 71. In this way, the tobacco materials containing foreign matter can be automatically removed, thereby replacing the manual process of stopping the vibration trough and picking foreign matter, saving human resources, and improving the qualified rate of tobacco products and the removal efficiency of foreign matter. In addition, by blocking the subsequent tobacco materials through the blocking member 30, more tobacco materials without foreign matter can be prevented from being removed, thereby improving the accuracy of foreign matter removal.

[0036] In some embodiments, the tobacco material containing foreign matter can be removed through the opened flap 71 into a recovery device located below the flap 71 , thereby recovering the tobacco material containing foreign matter for subsequent processing.

[0037] In some embodiments, the recognition device 60 can continue to recognize when it does not receive a control signal from the control system 50, so as to reduce the possibility of missing the recognition of foreign objects in the tobacco material, thereby improving the rejection rate of foreign objects. In other embodiments, the control system 50 can periodically send a second control signal to the recognition device 60, and the recognition device can perform recognition when receiving the second control signal, so as to save energy consumption.

[0038] In some embodiments, the identification device 60 may send a second identification signal to the control system 50 when it is not identified that the tobacco material conveyed on the vibration groove 70 contains foreign matter. The control system 50 may control the flap 71 to close when receiving the second identification signal, and may send a third control signal to the robot arm 10. The robot arm 10 may move to the second preset position when receiving the third control signal so that the blocking member 30 cannot block the tobacco material. For example, the second preset position may be an initial position (or mechanical zero position) pre-set by the robot arm 10 so that the blocking member 30 does not block the conveying of the tobacco material.

[0039] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the debris removal system may further include a position detection mechanism, wherein the position detection mechanism is used to detect whether the robotic arm moves to a first preset position in which the blocking member 30 can block the tobacco material and to detect whether the robotic arm moves to a second preset position in which the blocking member 30 cannot block the tobacco material.

[0040] In some embodiments, the position detection mechanism may include a steel reed pipe installed in the robot arm 10, so as to detect the position of the robot arm 10 according to the deformation of the steel reed pipe when the robot arm 10 moves. In other embodiments, the position detection mechanism may also include a position sensor provided on the robot arm 10, so as to detect the position of the robot arm 10 according to the signal collected by the position sensor. It should be understood that the position detection mechanism may also include both the steel reed pipe and the position sensor, so as to more accurately locate the position of the robot arm 10 by combining the detection results of the two.

[0041] In some embodiments, the robot arm 10 may have a fixed first end and a movable second end. It should be understood that the front end of the robot arm described herein refers to the movable end of the robot arm, and the movement of the movable end of the robot arm 10 can drive the blocking member 30 to move to a preset position. Figure 1 As shown, the robot arm 10 may include a first arm 11 and a second arm 12, wherein the first end of the first arm 11 may be fixed, the second end of the first arm 11 may be connected to the first end of the second arm 12, and the blocking member 30 may be disposed at the second end of the second arm 12. Such a robot arm 10 with a double-arm structure may have a higher degree of freedom and be more flexible in movement. It should be understood that the robot arm 10 may also be a single-arm structure, or may include more than two arms, as required.

[0042] In order to reduce the possibility of the robot arm 10 colliding with other mechanical parts or operators entering the working area of ​​the robot arm 10 during movement, infrared sensors can be set on the front and rear sides of the working area of ​​the robot arm 10 so that the working area of ​​the robot arm 10 can be monitored in real time through the infrared sensors. If it is found through monitoring that other mechanical parts or personnel enter the working area, an alarm signal can be immediately output to the control system 50 so that the control system can promptly control the robot arm to stop moving, thereby improving safety.

[0043] In some embodiments, Figure 1 As shown, the blocking member may include a first blocking member 31 and a second blocking member 32. It should be understood that the blocking member described herein may refer to any of the following if not explicitly mentioned. Figure 1 The first blocking member 31 and / or the second blocking member 32 shown in FIG.

[0044] The front end of the robot arm 10 may be provided with a support member 20, and a first blocking member 31 may be provided on a first side of the support member 20. In some embodiments, the first blocking member 31 may be connected to the support member 20 via a connecting pipe (not shown) to facilitate replacement of the first blocking member 31. The second blocking member 32 may be provided on a second side of the support member 20 opposite to the first side, and the first blocking member 31 is located behind the second blocking member 32 in the conveying direction. In this way, the first blocking member 31 and the second blocking member 32 may perform secondary blocking on the tobacco material, and further isolate the tobacco material to be subsequently conveyed from the tobacco material containing foreign matter.

[0045] In some embodiments, the support member 20 can be fixedly connected to the front end of the robot arm 10 by means of form fitting (e.g., embedding), force locking (e.g., threaded connection), and / or material bonding (e.g., welding, bonding, etc.) so as to provide a stable support plane for the components disposed on the support member 20.

[0046] When the robot arm 10 moves to the first preset position, in some embodiments, the minimum distance between the second blocking member 32 and the vibration groove 70 may be equal to the minimum distance between the first blocking member 31 and the vibration groove 70. In other words, the bottom of the second blocking member 32 and the bottom of the first blocking member 31 are perpendicular to the first direction of the conveying direction (e.g., Figure 1 In some other embodiments, the bottom of the second blocking member 32 is closer to the vibration groove 70 in the first direction perpendicular to the conveying direction than the bottom of the first blocking member 31. In this way, when some tobacco materials are transported to the front of the first blocking member 31 along the conveying direction, the second blocking member 32 can further block the tobacco materials, thereby further preventing more tobacco materials without foreign matter from being rejected.

[0047] In some embodiments, the first blocking member 31 has a first surface facing away from the conveying direction of the tobacco material, and the second blocking member 32 has a second surface facing away from the conveying direction of the tobacco material. At least one of the first surface of the first blocking member 31 and the second surface of the second blocking member 32 may be mounted with an auxiliary member 30a to assist the first blocking member 31 and / or the second blocking member 32 in blocking the subsequently conveyed tobacco material, for example Figure 1 The auxiliary member 30a is shown to be mounted on the first face of the first blocking member 31. The auxiliary member 30a has a pointed end away from the at least one face so as to hook the tobacco material with the pointed end, thereby further improving the blocking capability. In some embodiments, the auxiliary member 30a can be a component with a pointed end such as a nail (e.g., a steel nail).

[0048] As some implementations, the auxiliary member 30a can be perpendicular to the installed surface, such as the first surface of the first blocking member 31 and / or the second surface of the second blocking member 32, so that when the first blocking member 31 and / or the second blocking member 32 block the tobacco material, the auxiliary member 30a can better extend into the tobacco material to further block the tobacco material, and can also block the movement of the tobacco material along the first surface of the first blocking member 31 and / or the second surface of the second blocking member 32, thereby avoiding the accumulation of excessive tobacco material on the first surface of the first blocking member 31 and / or the second surface of the second blocking member 32.

[0049] In some embodiments, at least one of the first blocking member 31 and the second blocking member 32 can be a magnetic member so as to absorb metal debris in the tobacco material, so that the metal debris can be removed before the identification device 60 identifies the subsequently transported tobacco material that is blocked, further improving the debris removal rate in the tobacco material.

[0050] In some embodiments, a magnet may be mounted on the first blocking member 31 and / or the second blocking member 32 to form a magnetic member. In other embodiments, the first blocking member 31 and / or the second blocking member 32 itself is a magnetic member made of a magnetic material.

[0051] In some embodiments, the second blocking member 32 is movable relative to the support member 20 so that the position of the second blocking member 32 can be adjusted as needed to achieve a better blocking effect and better absorption of metal debris.

[0052] In some embodiments, Figure 1As shown, the movement of the second blocking member 32 relative to the support member 20 can be controlled by a telescopic cylinder 40. Specifically, a telescopic cylinder 40 can be provided on the second side of the support member 20, and the telescopic cylinder 40 can include a fixed portion (not shown) and a movable portion (not shown), wherein the fixed portion of the telescopic cylinder 40 can be fixedly connected to the support member 20, and the movable portion of the telescopic cylinder 40 can be connected to the second blocking member 32 via a connecting pipe 41. When the mechanical arm 10 moves to the first preset position, the movable portion of the telescopic cylinder 40 can extend to drive the second blocking member 32 to extend so as to further block the tobacco material. When the second blocking member 32 is a magnetic member, the extended second blocking member 32 can also absorb metal debris, so as to remove the metal debris of the tobacco material between the first blocking member 31 and the second blocking member 32.

[0053] In some embodiments, when the second blocking member 32 completes the absorption of metal impurities, the movable portion of the telescopic cylinder 40 can be retracted to drive the second blocking member 32 to retract. For example, the second blocking member 32 capable of absorbing metal impurities can be replaced regularly (for example, when the production process of each batch of tobacco materials is completed) to ensure that the second blocking member 32 has a high absorption capacity for metal impurities.

[0054] In some embodiments, in a second direction perpendicular to the conveying direction (eg Figure 1 In the Y direction shown in the figure, the width of the blocking member 30 (such as the first blocking member 31 and / or the second blocking member 32) can be greater than or equal to the width of the vibration groove 70, so that the blocking member 30 can block more tobacco materials and prevent more tobacco materials without foreign objects from being removed.

[0055] In some embodiments, the angle α between the blocking member 30 and the conveying direction of the tobacco material can be an acute angle, so that subsequent tobacco materials can be blocked and can be accumulated on the first surface of the blocking member away from the conveying direction. Exemplarily, the angle α between the blocking member 30 and the conveying direction can be 30 degrees.

[0056] In some embodiments, Figure 1 As shown, the recognition device may include at least one of an image recognition device 61 and an audio recognition device 62, so as to recognize foreign matter in the tobacco material through at least one of an image signal and an audio signal. It should be understood that the recognition device described herein, if not explicitly referred to, may refer to, for example, Figure 1 The image recognition device 61 and / or the audio recognition device 62 shown in FIG. 1 may also refer to the image recognition device 61 and / or the audio recognition device 62 shown in FIG. Figure 1 Other components for identifying debris not shown (such as the metal detector described below).

[0057] The following combination Figure 1The processes of recognizing sundries by the image recognition device 61 and the audio recognition device 62 are described respectively.

[0058] The image recognition device 61 may be connected to the control system 50, wherein the image recognition device 61 may send a first recognition signal to the control system 50 when recognizing that the tobacco material contains foreign matter according to the image signal of the tobacco material on the vibration groove 70. As some implementations, the image recognition device 61 may be a smart camera.

[0059] In some embodiments, the image recognition device 61 may include an image collector and an image recognition model, wherein the image collector is used to collect image signals of tobacco materials on the vibration groove 70 and input the collected image signals into the image recognition model, and the image recognition model can be identified according to the input image signals (for example, according to the image features of the debris in the image signal) and output the image recognition result. The image recognition result can be, for example, the probability of debris contained in the tobacco material or the probability of a specific type of debris contained in the tobacco material. When the image recognition result is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, it can be considered that the debris is identified, and the first recognition signal can be sent to the control system 50, and when the image recognition result is less than the first preset threshold, it can be considered that the debris is not identified, and the second recognition signal can be sent to the control system 50. Exemplarily, the first preset threshold can be set to 0.9, and it should be understood that the first preset threshold can be modified according to actual needs.

[0060] The image recognition model can be trained based on a preset model of deep learning. For example, the image recognition model can be a convolutional neural network model. A given image sample can be input into the image recognition model for training. The image sample can be an image signal of a tobacco material with corresponding debris. In some embodiments, a data enhancement method based on image segmentation can be used to expand the image samples used for model training to improve the training effect of the model. In some embodiments, the background in the collected image signal can be removed based on the image gradient threshold method to reduce the impact of the background image on the recognition of debris.

[0061] The control system 50 can control the flap 71 of the vibration trough 70 to open and control the mechanical arm 10 to move to the first preset position so that the blocking member blocks the tobacco material when receiving the first recognition signal from the image recognition device 61. The vibration trough 70 can continue to operate so that the tobacco material containing foreign matter between the blocking member and the flap 71 can be removed through the opened flap 71. Here, the image recognition device 61 can perform multiple recognitions. If foreign matter is still recognized, the first recognition signal is sent to the control system 50 so that the control system 50 continues to control the flap 71 to open and continues to control the mechanical arm 10 to be located at the first preset position; if no foreign matter is recognized, the second recognition signal is sent to the control system 50 so that the control system 50 controls the flap 71 to close and controls the mechanical arm 10 to move to the second preset position where the blocking member does not block the tobacco material, so that the subsequent tobacco material can continue to be transported on the vibration trough 70, and the subsequent tobacco material can be transported to the designated recognition area of ​​the image recognition device 61 for subsequent recognition.

[0062] In some embodiments, the flap 71 may be disposed at the end of the vibration trough 70 along the conveying direction. The image recognition device 61 may be disposed behind the flap 71 in the conveying direction. It should be understood that a plurality of flaps 71 may be disposed on the vibration trough 70, and the same number of image recognition devices 61 as the flaps 71 may be disposed. One image recognition device 61 may be disposed behind a corresponding flap 71 in the conveying direction, so that multiple recognitions and multiple rejections may be performed, thereby improving the rejection rate of foreign matter of the tobacco material.

[0063] The audio recognition device 62 may be connected to the control system 50 , wherein the audio recognition device 62 may send a first recognition signal to the control system 50 when recognizing that the tobacco material contains foreign matter based on the audio signal during the process of the tobacco material being transported on the vibration trough 70 .

[0064] Since the audio signal of tobacco materials containing impurities (especially hard impurities) during transportation is different from the audio signal of tobacco materials without impurities during transportation, for example, tobacco materials containing impurities may collide with the vibration groove during transportation and produce abnormal audio signals, the audio signal can be used to identify whether the tobacco material contains impurities.

[0065] In some embodiments, the audio recognition device 61 may include an audio collector and an audio recognition model, wherein the audio collector is used to collect audio signals during the transportation of tobacco materials on the vibration groove 70 and input the collected audio signals into the audio recognition model, and the audio recognition model can be identified according to the input audio signal (for example, according to the audio characteristics of the impurities in the audio signal) and output the audio recognition result. The audio recognition result can be, for example, the probability of impurities contained in the tobacco material or the probability of a certain type of impurities contained in the tobacco material. When the audio recognition result is greater than or equal to the second preset threshold, it can be considered that the impurities are recognized, and the first recognition signal can be sent to the control system 50; and when the audio recognition result is less than the second preset threshold, it can be considered that the impurities are not recognized, and the second recognition signal can be sent to the control system 50. Exemplarily, the second preset threshold can be set to 0.9. It should be understood that the second preset threshold can be modified according to actual needs.

[0066] The audio recognition model can be trained based on a preset model of deep learning. For example, the audio recognition model can include a long short-term memory (LSTM) model and a Transformer model. A given audio sample can be input into the audio recognition model for training, and the audio sample can be an audio signal of a tobacco material containing corresponding impurities during the conveyance on the vibration groove, wherein the audio signal can include a time-series audio signal of different time periods during the conveyance of the tobacco material on the vibration groove. In some embodiments, the normal audio signal of the tobacco material containing no impurities conveyed on the vibration groove 70 and the abnormal audio signal of the tobacco material containing impurities conveyed on the vibration groove 70 can be determined according to an audio signal classification algorithm based on a time series, and a mapping relationship between the abnormal audio signal and the corresponding impurities can be established in advance, so that the audio recognition model can identify the impurities or identify the specific type of impurities according to the audio signal.

[0067] In some embodiments, Figure 1 As shown, the audio recognition device 62 can be located on one side of the vibration groove 70 near the entrance. The vibration groove 70 can have an inlet (or an inlet end) and a discharge port (or a discharge end), and the tobacco material is transported from the inlet port to the discharge port along the conveying direction on the vibration groove 70, and enters the next process through the discharge port. The entrance of the vibration groove 70 refers to the inlet port on the vibration groove 70, and the side of the vibration groove 70 near the entrance refers to the side of the vibration groove 70 located behind the vibration groove 70 in the conveying direction. In this way, when the audio recognition device 62 recognizes foreign matter and sends a first recognition signal to the control system 50, sufficient time can be reserved for the control system 51 for the control system 51 to timely control the flap 71 to open and timely control the mechanical arm 10 to move to the first preset position, so that after the audio recognition device 62 recognizes foreign matter, the possibility of tobacco material containing foreign matter not being removed in time can be reduced.

[0068] In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, debris in tobacco materials can be identified by an image recognition device 61 and / or an audio recognition device 62, so that image signals and / or audio signals are used instead of the operator's vision and hearing to identify debris, thereby improving the accuracy of debris removal, and more types of debris can be removed (for example, metal debris and non-metal debris such as rubber, plastic, and cardboard), thereby improving the rejection rate of debris in tobacco materials.

[0069] In some embodiments, the identification device may include a metal detector (not shown) to identify whether the tobacco material contains metal debris. When the metal detector identifies that the tobacco material contains metal debris, it can send a first identification signal to the control system 50 so that the tobacco material containing metal debris can be removed through the opened flap. In the above-mentioned image recognition device 61 and audio recognition device 62, by completing the corresponding model training, both the metal debris contained in the tobacco material and the non-metallic debris contained in the tobacco material (for example, including rubber, plastic and paper) can be identified, so that more types of debris can be removed and the debris removal rate of the tobacco material can be improved. The specific type of debris can be identified by the corresponding image recognition model and / or audio recognition model, so that specific processing or recycling can be performed for different types of debris.

[0070] Continue to refer to Figure 1 According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the debris removal system may further include a pneumatic system 80 for controlling the opening and closing of the flap 71 .

[0071] The pneumatic system 80 is connected to the control system 50. When the control system 50 receives the first identification signal from the identification device, it can send a fourth control signal to the pneumatic system 80. When the pneumatic system 80 receives the fourth control signal, it can control the flap 71 to open so as to remove tobacco materials containing foreign matter.

[0072] When the control system 50 receives the second identification signal from the identification device, it can send a fifth control signal to the pneumatic system 80. When the pneumatic system 80 receives the fifth control signal, it can control the flap 71 to close to avoid rejecting tobacco materials without foreign matter.

[0073] In some embodiments, the control system 50 may be provided with a display device. For example, the display device may be fixedly mounted in a corresponding slot of the control system 50. In some embodiments, the display device has a touch screen to interact with the operator, thereby improving the applicability and flexibility of the debris removal system disclosed herein. For example, the operator may modify the alarm threshold of the recognition device (i.e., the first preset threshold and / or the second preset threshold described above) via the touch screen according to actual production needs.

[0074] The display device can be connected to the identification device to display the signal collected by the identification device and / or the identification result of the impurities in the tobacco material. In this way, the operator can confirm the identification result through the display device to improve the identification accuracy and update the impurity database.

[0075] The words "left," "right," "front," "back," "top," "bottom," "up," "down," "high," "low," and the like, if any, used herein are used for descriptive purposes and are not necessarily used to describe an unchanging relative position. It should be understood that the words so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, such that the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, for example, are capable of operation in other orientations than those shown or otherwise described herein. For example, when the device in the accompanying drawings is turned over, features previously described as "above" other features may now be described as "below" the other features. The device may also be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations), and relative spatial relationships will be interpreted accordingly.

[0076] In this document, when an element is said to be "above", "attached" to, "connected" to, "coupled" to, or "in contact with" another element, the element may be directly above, directly attached to, directly connected to, directly coupled to, or directly in contact with another element, or one or more intermediate elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is said to be "directly" "above", "directly attached" to, "directly connected" to, "directly coupled" to, or "in direct contact with" another element, there will be no intermediate elements. In the specification and claims, a feature is arranged "adjacent" to another feature, which may refer to a feature having a portion that overlaps with an adjacent feature or a portion that is above or below an adjacent feature.

[0077] As used herein, the word "exemplary" means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than as a "model" to be exactly copied. Any implementation described as an example herein is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited by any stated or implied theory given in the technical field, background technology, utility model content, or detailed description.

[0078] As used herein, the term "substantially" is intended to include any minor variations due to design or manufacturing imperfections, device or component tolerances, environmental influences, and / or other factors. The term "substantially" also allows for deviations from a perfect or ideal situation due to parasitic effects, noise, and other practical considerations that may exist in actual implementations.

[0079] In addition, the terms "first", "second" and the like may also be used herein for reference purposes only and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the terms "first", "second" and other such numerical terms referring to structures or elements do not imply a sequence or order unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0080] It should also be understood that when the term “include / comprises” is used in this document, it indicates the presence of the specified features, integers, steps, operations, units and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, units and / or components and / or their combinations.

[0081] In this disclosure, the term "provide" is used in a broad sense to cover all ways of obtaining an object, and thus "providing an object" includes but is not limited to "purchasing", "preparing / manufacturing", "arranging / setting up", "installing / assembling", and / or "ordering" an object, etc.

[0082] As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0083] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the boundaries between the above operations are merely illustrative. Multiple operations can be combined into a single operation, a single operation can be distributed in additional operations, and operations can be performed at least partially overlapping in time. Moreover, alternative embodiments may include multiple instances of a specific operation, and the order of operations may be changed in various other embodiments. However, other modifications, variations, and replacements are equally possible. Aspects and elements of all embodiments disclosed above may be combined in any manner and / or in combination with aspects or elements of other embodiments to provide multiple additional embodiments. Therefore, this specification and accompanying drawings should be considered illustrative, not restrictive.

[0084] Although some specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail by way of example, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above examples are for illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The various embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in any manner without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. It should also be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A debris removal system, characterized in that: include: Identification device; A mechanical arm, wherein a blocking member is provided at the front end of the mechanical arm; as well as a control system, wherein the control system is connected to the recognition device and the robotic arm respectively, Among them, when the identification device identifies that the tobacco material conveyed on the vibration trough contains foreign matter, the control system controls the flap of the vibration trough to open to remove the tobacco material containing foreign matter when receiving the first identification signal, and sends a first control signal to the robotic arm. When receiving the first control signal, the robotic arm moves to a first preset position so that the blocking member moves to the top of the vibration trough and to the rear of the flap along the conveying direction of the tobacco material, thereby blocking the tobacco material.

2. The debris removal system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The recognition device comprises at least one of an audio recognition device and an image recognition device, wherein: The audio recognition device is connected to the control system, and when the audio recognition device recognizes that the tobacco material contains foreign matter according to the audio signal during the process of the tobacco material being transported on the vibration groove, the audio recognition device sends the first recognition signal to the control system; The image recognition device is connected to the control system. When the image recognition device recognizes that the tobacco material contains foreign matter based on the image signal of the tobacco material on the vibration groove, the image recognition device sends the first recognition signal to the control system.

3. The debris removal system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The audio recognition device is located on a side of the vibration groove close to the entrance.

4. The debris removal system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: A support member is provided at the front end of the robotic arm, and the blocking member is provided on the support member and includes a first blocking member and a second blocking member, wherein the first blocking member is provided on a first side of the support member, and the second blocking member is provided on a second side of the support member opposite to the first side, and the first blocking member is located behind the second blocking member in the conveying direction.

5. The debris removal system according to claim 4, characterized in that: When the robot arm moves to the first preset position, the bottom of the second blocking member is closer to the vibration groove in a first direction perpendicular to the conveying direction than the bottom of the first blocking member.

6. The debris removal system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second blocking member is movable relative to the support member.

7. The debris removal system according to claim 6, characterized in that: A telescopic cylinder is provided on the second side of the support member, and the telescopic cylinder includes a fixed part and a movable part, wherein the fixed part of the telescopic cylinder is fixedly connected to the support member, and the movable part of the telescopic cylinder is connected to the second blocking member via a first connecting pipe.

8. The debris removal system according to claim 4, characterized in that: At least one of the first blocking member and the second blocking member is a magnetic member.

9. The debris removal system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first blocking member has a first surface facing away from the conveying direction, the second blocking member has a second surface facing away from the conveying direction, an auxiliary member is installed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface, and the auxiliary member has a pointed end away from the at least one surface.

10. The debris removal system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The support member is fixedly connected to the front end of the robotic arm; and / or The first blocking member is connected to the supporting member via a third connecting pipe.

11. The debris removal system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The control system periodically sends a second control signal to the identification device, and the identification device performs identification when receiving the second control signal.

12. The debris removal system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The flap is arranged at the end of the vibration groove along the conveying direction.

13. The debris removal system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: In a second direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, a width of the blocking member is greater than or equal to a width of the vibration groove.

14. The debris removal system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The included angle between the blocking member and the conveying direction is an acute angle.

15. The debris removal system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: When the identification device fails to identify that the tobacco material transported on the vibration trough contains foreign matter, the control system controls the flap to close upon receiving the second identification signal and sends a third control signal to the robotic arm. When the robotic arm receives the third control signal, it moves to a second preset position so that the blocking member cannot block the tobacco material.

16. The debris removal system according to claim 15, characterized in that: Also includes: A pneumatic system, connected to the control system, Wherein, the control system sends a fourth control signal to the pneumatic system when receiving the first identification signal, and the pneumatic system controls the flap to open when receiving the fourth control signal. The control system sends a fifth control signal to the pneumatic system when receiving the second identification signal, and the pneumatic system controls the flap to close when receiving the fifth control signal.

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