Feeding and discharging system for cage box cleaning
By designing the cage box cleaning and loading system, the lifting box bearing device and guide plate are used to achieve regular in-washing and outlet washing of the cage box, solving the problems of low working efficiency and high production costs caused by different attitudes of cage boxes, and achieving efficient and automatic cage box cleaning and handling.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202421647108.5
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-07-12
- Publication Date
- 2025-06-13
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-07-12
AI Technical Summary
In the cleaning, rinsing, wiper, drying and other processes, the existing cage washing machines cause changes in the attitude of the cage box, resulting in differences in the horizontal position and posture between a group of cage boxes, which is difficult to grasp at one time, and requires manual adjustment, resulting in low work efficiency and high production costs.
A cage box cleaning, loading and unloading system is designed, including a robot, a lightweight flexible end effector, a cage washing machine, upper box and lower box parts. The upper box part uses a lifting box bearing to make the cage box regular in order to enter the cage washing machine, and the lower box part uses a guide plate and a lower box power roller line to achieve automatic regularization of the cage box attitude.
Through this system, the robot can grab a set of cage boxes with consistent postures at a time, improving cleaning work efficiency by 40-50%, reducing production costs, and operating in accordance with ergonomics.
Smart Images
Figure CN222974325U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of special robots for biology, and more specifically, to a loading and unloading system for cage box cleaning. Background Art
[0002] The cage box is a special facility for experimental animals, made of plastic, and can be any one of PC, PSU, PPSU, and PEI. It has the characteristics of transparency, high temperature resistance, and acid and alkali salt resistance. When the cage washer is cleaning the cage box, generally, the cage box is placed with the opening downward on the chain conveyor at the inlet end. The cage box goes through the cleaning, rinsing, water scraping, drying and other processes of the cage washer and is output at the outlet end.
[0003] If the cage box is directly placed on the chain conveyor at the inlet end of the cage washer, since there are anti-cage box movement pins on the chain conveyor, a suitable position needs to be selected during placement to avoid the pins and directly place the cage box on the chain conveyor body. This reduces the cleaning efficiency of the tunnel cage washer and is prone to accidents.
[0004] The cage box enters the cage washer for cleaning, rinsing, water scraping, drying, etc. The cleaned cage box is output from the outlet end of the cage washer. However, when the cage box goes through the cleaning, rinsing, water scraping, drying and other processes in the cage washer, the posture of the cage box will change, resulting in differences in the horizontal positions and postures between a group of cage boxes. In this case, when the end effector of the robot picks up the cage boxes, it is very difficult to grasp a group of cage boxes simultaneously at one time. It is also necessary to manually assist in adjusting the positions and postures of this group of cage boxes to make them consistent, and then let the end effector of the robot grasp all of them at one time, which leads to the problems of low work efficiency and high production cost.
[0005] Therefore, under the current situation, it is necessary to provide a loading and unloading system for cage box cleaning to solve the problem that the positions and postures cannot be guaranteed to be the same when loading and unloading cage boxes on the existing cage washer. Summary of the Utility Model
[0006] In view of this, in response to the above problems, the purpose of the utility model is to provide a loading and unloading system for cage box cleaning, so that when the robot loads and unloads the cage box, the position and posture of the cage box are guaranteed to be the same, and the end effector of the robot can grasp a group of cage boxes at one time, thereby improving the cleaning work efficiency.
[0007] To achieve the above purpose, the utility model adopts the following technical solutions:
[0008] A loading and unloading system for cage box cleaning, comprising:
[0009] A robot for transporting the cage box during loading and unloading;
[0010] A lightweight flexible end effector, arranged at the execution end of the robot, for picking up the cage box;
[0011] A cage washing machine is used for cleaning and drying cage boxes, and the cage boxes are conveyed in the cage washing machine in the direction from the rear to the front.
[0012] The upper box part is arranged at the inlet end of the cage washing machine and includes an upper box power roller line and a lifting box carrier. The upper box power roller line is arranged at the rear side of the inlet end of the cage washing machine, and the lifting box carrier is arranged in the middle of the upper box power roller line and is driven by a lifting cylinder. When the lifting box carrier rises, a robot grabs a group of cage boxes and places them on the lifting box carrier. The lifting box carrier and the cage boxes descend together, and the cage boxes fall onto the upper box power roller line and advance along with the rotating upper box power roller line into the cage washing machine.
[0013] The lower box part is arranged at the outlet end of the cage washing machine and includes a lower box power roller line, a guide plate, and a fixed box stopper. The lower box power roller line is arranged at the front side of the outlet end of the cage washing machine. Guide plates are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the lower box power roller line, and the guide plates can automatically guide and regularize the postures of a group of cage boxes output by the lower box power roller line. A fixed box stopper is arranged at the front end of the lower box power roller line.
[0014] Preferably, the lifting box carrier is of a U-shaped frame structure, including a front wing plate, a rear wing plate, and a bottom beam connecting the front wing plate and the rear wing plate. The bottom beam is located below the lower box power roller line. The front wing plate and the rear wing plate extend upward and are respectively inserted between two adjacent corresponding rollers of the upper box power roller line. Two lifting cylinders are respectively connected to the bottom beams on the left and right sides and synchronously drive the lifting box carrier to lift and lower. When the lifting box carrier rises, a robot grabs a group of cage boxes and places them with the openings downward above the front wing plate and the rear wing plate. Subsequently, the front wing plate, the rear wing plate, and the cage boxes descend together. When the cage boxes contact the upper box power roller line, the front wing plate and the rear wing plate continue to descend to a position lower than the upper tangent of the rollers, and the cage boxes advance along with the rotating upper box power roller line into the cage washing machine.
[0015] Preferably, the guide plate includes a guide inclined plane, a guide arc surface, and a lateral positioning plane arranged in sequence along the output direction of the lower box power roller line. The distance between the guide inclined planes of the two guide plates gradually shrinks along the output direction of the lower box power roller line. The two lateral positioning planes are parallel to each other, and the distance between them is a multiple of the width of the cage box.
[0016] Preferably, the height of the guide plate is 8 mm.
[0017] Preferably, the lightweight flexible end effector includes a fixed clamping plate, a movable clamping plate, a clamping drive mechanism, and multiple groups of positioning and clamping units; the fixed clamping plate and the movable clamping plate are arranged in parallel and connected by the clamping drive mechanism. The clamping drive mechanism can drive the movable clamping plate to approach or move away from the fixed clamping plate to achieve the clamping or releasing function; multiple groups of positioning and clamping units are symmetrically arranged on the opposite surfaces of the fixed clamping plate and the movable clamping plate, and two sets of relatively arranged positioning and clamping units are used to position and clamp the two ends of a single cage box.
[0018] Preferably, the clamping drive mechanism includes a first clamping drive mechanism and a second clamping drive mechanism;
[0019] The first clamping drive mechanism includes a first cylinder. The tail of the cylinder body of the first cylinder is fixed to the inner wall of one end of the fixed clamping plate, and the output end of the first cylinder is connected to the inner wall of the corresponding side end of the movable clamping plate;
[0020] The second clamping drive mechanism includes a rectangular frame, a guide post and sleeve, and a second cylinder. The tail of the rectangular frame is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the other end of the fixed clamping plate. The second cylinder is installed in the rectangular frame, and the output end of the second cylinder is connected to the inner wall of the corresponding side end of the movable clamping plate. The movable clamping plate is slidably connected to the rectangular frame through the guide post and sleeve.
[0021] Preferably, each group of positioning and clamping units correspondingly includes a positioning strip and two positioning blocks located on both sides of the positioning strip. The positioning strip is used to contact and position the side inclined surface of the cage box, and the two positioning blocks respectively position and clamp on both sides of the cage box.
[0022] Preferably, the cage box is of a cuboid structure, including a bottom surface, two long side surfaces and two short side surfaces, and the two long side surfaces and two short side surfaces of the cage box all have draft angles; two vertical reinforcing ribs are arranged along the height direction on the outer side of the short side surface, and a transverse reinforcing rib is arranged along the length direction on the outer side of the long side surface; a flanging is provided at the top of the bottom box of the cage box, and the four corners of the flanging are arc top corners.
[0023] Preferably, it further includes a control system; the upper box part further includes an upper box position detection system. When the robot grabs a group of cage boxes and places them on the lifting and loading box device, the upper box position detection system sends a signal to the control system, and the control system controls the lifting and loading box device to descend.
[0024] Preferably, the upper box part further includes a dirty bedding dumping table for dumping and scraping dirty cage boxes, and the lower box part further includes a new bedding filling machine for adding new bedding into the washed cage boxes.
[0025] Compared with the prior art, the advantages and beneficial effects of the cage box cleaning loading and unloading system of the present utility model are as follows:
[0026] (1). For the upper box part of the system of the present utility model, by utilizing the lifting function of the lifting box carrier, a group of cage boxes are neatly placed on the upper box power roller line and quickly enter the cage washer, avoiding the misalignment of the cage boxes caused by directly placing them on the chain row of the cage washer, and ultimately increasing the work efficiency by 40 - 50%.
[0027] (2). For the lower box part of the system of the present utility model, by utilizing the reaction force of the contact with the guide plate, the resistance of the stopping motion, and the friction force of the lower box power roller line, the on-line regularization of the horizontal positions and postures between a group of cage boxes is realized. The adjustment is convenient, without occupying extra time, and the regularization is automatically carried out during the forward conveying process, improving the work efficiency, reducing the production cost, and the operation conforms to ergonomics. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present utility model or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only the embodiments of the present utility model. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained according to the provided drawings.
[0029] Figure 1 It is an isometric view of the upper box part in the present utility model.
[0030] Figure 2 It is an isometric view of the lower box part in the present utility model.
[0031] Figure 3 It is an isometric view of the cage box in the present utility model.
[0032] Figure 4 It is a top view of the lightweight flexible end effector in the present utility model.
[0033] Figure 5 It is a partial structural schematic diagram of the lightweight flexible end effector in the clamping state in the present utility model.
[0034] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the working state when loading the upper box in the present utility model.
[0035] Figure 7 It is an isometric view of the lifting box carrier in the present utility model.
[0036] Figure 8 It is a structural schematic diagram of the guide plate in the present utility model.
[0037] Figure 9 It is a partial schematic diagram of the working state when unloading the lower box in the present utility model.
[0038] Figure 10 It is a front view of the working state when unloading the lower box in the present utility model.
[0039] Figure 11 For Figure 10 The partial enlarged schematic view at position A in the figure.
[0040] In the figure: 1 - robot, 2 - lightweight flexible end effector, 201 - fixed clamping plate, 202 - movable clamping plate, 203 - cylinder 1, 204 - rectangular frame, 205 - guide pillar and bushing, 206 - cylinder 2, 207 - positioning bar, 20701 - positioning inclined plane, 208 - positioning block, 3 - cage washer, 4 - cage box, 401 - bottom surface, 402 - long side surface, 403 - short side surface, 404 - vertical reinforcing rib, 405 - horizontal reinforcing rib, 406 - arc top angle, 407 - flanged top surface, 408 - flanged long side surface, 409 - flanged short side surface, 5 - upper box power roller line, 6 - lifting box carrier, 601 - front wing plate, 602 - rear wing plate, 7 - lifting cylinder, 8 - lower box power roller line, 801 - output power roller, 9 - guide plate, 901 - guide inclined plane, 902 - guide arc surface, 903 - lateral positioning plane, 10 - fixed box stopper, 11 - dirty bedding dumping platform, 12 - new bedding filling machine, 13 - chain row line, 14 - carrier vehicle. Detailed implementation manners
[0041] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. The examples of the embodiments are shown in the drawings, where the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are exemplary and are intended to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.
[0042] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.
[0043] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specifically defined.
[0044] Embodiment:
[0045] The utility model provides a loading and unloading system for cage box cleaning, which can enable a group of cage boxes to enter the cage washing machine neatly and quickly. At the same time, it can also regulate the differences in the horizontal positions and postures of a group of cage boxes online when they are output from the cage washing machine, with convenient adjustment, safe operation, and improved work efficiency.
[0046] See Figures 1 to 11 As shown in the figure, a loading and unloading system for cage box cleaning of the utility model includes:
[0047] A robot 1 for carrying the cage boxes for loading and unloading.
[0048] A lightweight flexible end effector 2 is arranged at the execution end of the robot 1 for picking up the cage box 4.
[0049] A cage washing machine 3 for cleaning, rinsing, water scraping, drying, etc. of the cage box 4, and the cage box 4 is conveyed in the cage washing machine 3 in the direction from the back to the front.
[0050] The loading part is arranged at the inlet end of the cage washing machine and includes a loading power roller line 5 and a lifting box carrier 6; the loading power roller line 5 is arranged at the rear side of the inlet end of the cage washing machine, and the lifting box carrier 6 is arranged in the middle of the loading power roller line 5 and is driven by a lifting cylinder 7; when the lifting box carrier 6 rises, the robot 1 grabs a group of cage boxes 4 and places them on the lifting box carrier 6, and the lifting box carrier 6 and the cage box 4 descend together. The cage box 4 falls onto the loading power roller line 5 and advances with the rotating loading power roller line 5 and enters the cage washing machine 3.
[0051] The unloading part is arranged at the outlet end of the cage washing machine and includes an unloading power roller line 8, a guide plate 9, and a fixed box stopper 10; the unloading power roller line 8 is arranged at the front side of the outlet end of the cage washing machine, and guide plates 9 are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the unloading power roller line 8. The guide plates 9 can automatically guide and regulate the postures of a group of cage boxes 4 output by the unloading power roller line 8, and a fixed box stopper 10 is arranged at the front end of the unloading power roller line 8.
[0052] The loading and unloading system for cage box cleaning of the utility model further includes a control system; the loading part further includes a loading position detection system, specifically an optoelectronic sensor fixed on the loading power roller line bracket.
[0053] At the same time, the loading part further includes a dirty litter dumping table 11 for dumping and scraping dirty cage boxes, and the unloading part further includes a new litter filling machine 12 for adding new litter into the washed cage boxes.
[0054] The cage washing machine 3, the new litter filling machine 12, the dirty litter dumping table 11, etc. in the utility model are all mature products and will not be elaborated here.
[0055] More specifically, a chain wire row 13 for conveying the cage box 4 is provided inside the cage washer 3. The upper box power roller line 5 is arranged at the rear end of the chain wire row 13, and the lower box power roller line 8 is arranged at the front end of the chain wire row 13.
[0056] In a further specific embodiment, referring to Figure 6 , Figure 7 As shown, the lifting and supporting box device 6 is a U-shaped frame structure, including a front side wing plate 601, a rear side wing plate 602, and a bottom beam connecting the front side wing plate 601 and the rear side wing plate 602. The bottom beam is located below the lower box power roller line 8. The front side wing plate 601 and the rear side wing plate 602 extend upward and are respectively inserted between two adjacent corresponding rollers of the upper box power roller line 5. Two lifting cylinders 7 are respectively connected to the bottom beams on the left and right sides and synchronously drive the lifting and supporting box device 6 to lift and lower. The cylinder body of the lifting cylinder 7 is installed on the frame of the upper box power roller line 5. When the lifting and supporting box device 6 rises, the robot 1 grabs a group of cage boxes 4 and places them with the opening facing down above the front side wing plate 601 and the rear side wing plate 602. Subsequently, the upper box position detection system sends a signal to the control system, and the control system controls the front side wing plate 601, the rear side wing plate 602, and the cage box 4 to descend together. When the cage box 4 contacts the upper box power roller line 5, the front side wing plate 601 and the rear side wing plate 602 continue to descend to a position lower than the upper tangent of the roller, and the cage box 4 advances with the rotating upper box power roller line 5 and enters the cage washer 3 for operations such as cleaning, water scraping, and drying. Figure 6 In the figure, the direction indicated by the horizontal arrow is the advancing direction of the cage box, and the direction indicated by the vertical arrow is the lifting and lowering direction of the lifting and supporting box device.
[0057] The lifting and supporting box device 6 in the present utility model is generally in a normally lifted state, so that the robot 1 grabs a group of dirty cage boxes. After dumping, scraping, and flipping on the dirty padding dumping table 11, the cage boxes are placed with the opening facing down on the front and rear side wing plates of the lifting and supporting box device 6. At the same time, the lifting height of the lifting cylinder 7 is controlled to be 75 mm.
[0058] In a further specific embodiment, referring to Figures 8 to 11 As shown, the guide plate 9 includes a guide inclined surface 901, a guide arc surface 902, and a lateral positioning plane 903 arranged in sequence along the output direction of the lower box power roller line 8. The distance between the guide inclined surfaces 901 of the two guide plates 9 gradually shrinks along the output direction of the lower box power roller line 8. The two lateral positioning planes 903 are parallel to each other, and the distance between them is a multiple of the width of the cage box. That is to say, exactly multiple cage boxes 4 with the same attitude can be accommodated between the two lateral positioning planes 903. The height a of the guide plate 9 is 8 mm.
[0059] Referring to Figure 3As shown in the figure, in the embodiment of the present utility model, the cage box 4 is a cuboid structure with a top flange and four arc-shaped top corners 406, including a bottom surface 401, two long side surfaces 402 and two short side surfaces 403, and both the two long side surfaces 402 and the two short side surfaces 403 of the cage box 4 have draft angles; two vertical stiffeners 404 are provided on the outer side of the short side surface 403 of the cage box 4 along the height direction, and a horizontal stiffener 405 is provided on the outer side of the long side surface 402 along the length direction.
[0060] The cage box 4 is a part of the experimental animal cage box, and the material is plastic, using any one of PC, PSU, PPSU, and PEI, with the characteristics of transparency, high temperature resistance, and resistance to acids, alkalis, and salts. Specifically, the height of the top flange of the cage box 4 is 2 mm. The top surface 407 of the top flange is a plane, and the top flange includes a long side surface 408 and a short side surface 409 that are both perpendicular to the top surface 407 of the flange.
[0061] See Figure 4 As shown in the figure, in the embodiment of the present utility model, the lightweight flexible end effector 2 includes a fixed clamping plate 201, a movable clamping plate 202, a clamping drive mechanism, and multiple groups of positioning and clamping units; the fixed clamping plate 201 and the movable clamping plate 202 are arranged in parallel and are connected by a clamping drive mechanism. The clamping drive mechanism can drive the movable clamping plate 202 to approach or move away from the fixed clamping plate 201 to achieve the clamping or releasing function; multiple groups of positioning and clamping units are symmetrically arranged on the opposite surfaces of the fixed clamping plate 201 and the movable clamping plate 202, and two groups of positioning and clamping units arranged opposite to each other are used to position and clamp both ends of a single cage box.
[0062] In a further specific embodiment, the clamping drive mechanism includes a first clamping drive mechanism and a second clamping drive mechanism;
[0063] The first clamping drive mechanism includes a cylinder 203. The tail of the cylinder block of the cylinder 203 is fixed to the inner wall of one end of the fixed clamping plate 201, and the output end of the cylinder 203 is connected to the inner wall of the corresponding side end of the movable clamping plate 202;
[0064] The second clamping drive mechanism includes a rectangular frame 204, a guide post and guide sleeve 205, and a cylinder 206. The tail of the rectangular frame 204 is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the other end of the fixed clamping plate 201. The cylinder 206 is installed in the rectangular frame 204, and the output end of the cylinder 206 is connected to the inner wall of the corresponding side end of the movable clamping plate 202. The movable clamping plate 202 is slidably connected to the rectangular frame 204 through the guide post and guide sleeve 205.
[0065] The cylinder 203 and the cylinder 206 synchronously expand and contract to drive the movable clamping plate 202 to translate, realizing the opening and closing actions of the lightweight flexible end effector 2.
[0066] In an embodiment of the present utility model, each set of positioning and clamping units respectively includes a positioning strip 207 and two positioning blocks 208 located on both sides of the positioning strip 207. Among them, the positioning strip 207 is used for positioning in contact with the side inclined surface of the cage box 4, and the two positioning blocks 208 respectively position and clamp on both sides of the cage box 4. The material of the positioning strip 207 is preferably polyurethane.
[0067] In a preferred embodiment, both the fixed clamping plate 201 and the movable clamping plate 202 are rectangular aluminum alloy plates. The rectangular frame 204 is a rectangular structure formed by splicing multiple aluminum alloy plates. When the fixed clamping plate 201 and the movable clamping plate come into contact with the vertical reinforcing ribs 404 on both sides of the cage box 4, the clamping action of the lightweight flexible end effector 2 is completed, realizing the online positioning of the cage box, as Figure 5 shown. Since the side surface of the cage box 4 has a draft angle, the outer surface of the vertical reinforcing rib 404 also has an inclination of 1°. The positioning strip 207 has a positioning inclined surface 20701, and the positioning inclined surface 20701 is in surface contact with the outer surface of the vertical reinforcing rib 404, that is, the contact surface has an inclination of 1°, realizing the self-locking function. Therefore, when the lightweight flexible end effector 2 clamps a group of cage boxes 4, there will be no relative movement when the end effector is lifted relative to a group of cage boxes 4.
[0068] The working principle of a cage box cleaning loading and unloading system of the present utility model is as follows:
[0069] When loading the box, the robot 1 grabs a group of cage boxes 4 on the carrier vehicle 14. The cage box 4 containing dirty bedding is turned over and dumped on the dirty bedding dumping table 11, scraped clean, and then placed with the opening facing down on the wing plates of the lifting box carrier 6. The photoelectric sensor (i.e., the box loading position detection system) sends a signal, and the two wing plates of the lifting box carrier 6 descend. When the upper edge of the wing plate is lower than the upper tangent of the rollers of the box loading power roller line 5, the cage box 4 falls on the box loading power roller line 5 and moves forward into the chain row 13 of the cage washer 3 for cleaning and other operations, as shown in Figure 6 、 Figure 7 。
[0070] When loading the lower box, the chain row line 13 of the cage washing machine 3 outputs a set of cage boxes 4 (usually 4) onto the lower box power roller line 8. Since the cage boxes 4 are prone to deviation, misalignment, and even inclination during cleaning, rinsing, water scraping, and drying, and due to the polygonal effect of the movement of the chain row line 13, there are differences in the horizontal positions and postures between a set of cage boxes 4. During the forward output process of a set of cage boxes 4 on the lower box power roller line 8, they move forward through the friction between the flanging top surface 407 and the output power roller 801 of the lower box power roller line 8. The two cage boxes 4 located on the outside sequentially contact and slide through the arc top angle 406 with the guiding inclined surface 901, the guiding arc surface 902, and the lateral positioning plane 903. Because the distance between the two guiding plates 9 gradually shrinks, the four cage boxes 4 are brought closer to each other, and the transverse reinforcing ribs 405 between adjacent two cage boxes 4 are gradually fitted. When the four cage boxes 4 completely enter between the two lateral positioning planes 903, the flanging long side surfaces 408 of the two cage boxes 4 located on the outside are fitted with the lateral positioning plane 903 to achieve lateral positioning. When the cage box 4 moves forward to the fixed box stopper 10, it is blocked and stopped. Finally, the lengths of the four cage boxes 4 are also aligned.
[0071] Specifically, the height a of the guiding plate 9 is less than the relative height b of the lightweight flexible end effector 2 clamping a set of cage boxes 4 to avoid interference of the guiding plate 9 with the clamping action of the end effector. The relative height b of the end effector clamping a set of cage boxes 4 is defined as: when the end effector clamps a set of cage boxes 4, the relative height between the flanging top surface 407 of the cage box 4 and the nearest side surface of the fixed clamping plate 201 or the movable clamping plate 202, as Figure 5 shown.
[0072] The lightweight flexible end effector 2 in the lower box part clamps a set of cage boxes 4 and lifts them, flips the clamped set of cage boxes 4 by 180°, transports them with the opening facing upward into the new padding filling machine 12 for new padding filling and then places them into the positioning frame of the transport vehicle 14. The cage boxes 4 are stored in a state of being stacked up and down, with surface contact between the two long side surfaces 402 and the two short side surfaces 403 corresponding up and down. The transport vehicle 14 is positioned and locked by the ground mechanism. The cage boxes 4 can be positioned through the positioning frame on the transport vehicle 14, and each set of cage boxes 4 is arranged in four parallel rows side by side.
[0073] A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system provided by the present utility model utilizes the lifting function of the lifting box carrier, the contact reaction force of the guiding plates on both sides of the lower box power roller line, the blocking and stopping movement resistance, and the friction force of the power roller line to jointly realize the rapid entry of the cage box into the cage washing machine and the online rapid sorting of the output from the cage washing machine, improving work efficiency, reducing production costs, and the operation conforms to ergonomics.
[0074] In the present specification, the various embodiments are described in a progressive manner. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments, and the same or similar parts among the various embodiments can be referred to each other. For the devices disclosed in the embodiments, since they correspond to the methods disclosed in the embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the description in the method section.
[0075] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to these embodiments shown herein, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
Claims
1. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system, characterized in that: include: Robot, used for handling upper and lower boxes of cages; A lightweight flexible end effector is installed at the end of the robot and is used to pick up the cage. Cage washer, used for cleaning and drying cages, cages are transported from back to front in the cage washer; The upper box part is arranged at the entrance of the cage washing machine, including an upper box power roller line and a lifting box support device; The upper box power roller line is set at the rear side of the cage washing machine entrance end, and the lifting box bearing device is set in the middle of the upper box power roller line and driven by the lifting cylinder; when the lifting box bearing device rises, the robot grabs a group of cage boxes and places them on the lifting box bearing device, and the lifting box bearing device and the cage boxes fall together, and the cage boxes fall onto the upper box power roller line, and move forward with the rotating upper box power roller line and enter the cage washing machine; The lower box part is arranged at the exit end of the cage washing machine, and includes a lower box power roller line, a guide plate, and a fixed box stopper; The lower box power roller line is arranged at the front side of the cage washing machine outlet end, and guide plates are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the lower box power roller line. The guide plates can automatically guide and regularize the posture of a group of cage boxes output by the lower box power roller line, and a fixed box stopper is arranged at the front end of the lower box power roller line.
2. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting box support device is a U-shaped frame structure, including a front side wing plate, a rear side wing plate and a bottom beam connecting the front side wing plate and the rear side wing plate, the bottom beam is located below the lower box power roller line, the front side wing plate and the rear side wing plate extend upward and are respectively inserted into the corresponding adjacent two rollers of the upper box power roller line, and the two lifting cylinders are respectively connected to the bottom beams on the left and right sides and synchronously drive the lifting box support device to rise and fall; when the lifting box support device is raised, the robot grabs a group of cage boxes and lowers their openings downward above the front side wing plates and the rear side wing plates, and then the front side wing plates, the rear side wing plates and the cage boxes descend together, and when the cage boxes contact the upper box power roller line, the front side wing plates and the rear side wing plates continue to descend below the upper tangent of the roller, and the cage boxes move forward with the rotating upper box power roller line and enter the cage washing machine.
3. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guide plate includes a guide inclined surface, a guide arc surface and a lateral positioning plane which are sequentially arranged along the output direction of the lower box power roller line; the spacing between the guide inclined surfaces of the two guide plates gradually shrinks along the output direction of the lower box power roller line; the two lateral positioning planes are parallel to each other, and the spacing is a multiple of the cage box width.
4. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The height of the guide plate is 8 mm.
5. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lightweight flexible end effector includes a fixed holding plate, a movable holding plate, a clamping drive mechanism and multiple groups of positioning holding units; the fixed holding plate and the movable holding plate are arranged in parallel and connected by a clamping drive mechanism, and the clamping drive mechanism can drive the movable holding plate to approach or move away from the fixed holding plate to achieve a clamping or releasing function; multiple groups of positioning holding units are symmetrically arranged on the opposite surfaces of the fixed holding plate and the movable holding plate, and the two relatively arranged groups of positioning holding units are used to position and clamp the two ends of a single cage box.
6. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The clamping drive mechanism comprises a clamping drive mechanism 1 and a clamping drive mechanism 2; The clamping drive mechanism 1 includes a cylinder 1, the tail of the cylinder 1 is fixed to the inner wall of one end of the fixed supporting plate, and the output end of the cylinder 1 is connected to the inner wall of the corresponding side end of the movable supporting plate; The second clamping drive mechanism includes a rectangular frame, a guide column and a guide sleeve and a second cylinder. The tail of the rectangular frame is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the other end of the fixed supporting plate. The second cylinder is installed in the rectangular frame, and the output end of the second cylinder is connected to the inner wall of the corresponding side end of the movable supporting plate. The movable supporting plate is slidably connected to the rectangular frame through the guide column and guide sleeve.
7. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: Each set of positioning and holding units includes a positioning bar and two positioning blocks located on both sides of the positioning bar. The positioning bar is used to contact and position with the side slope of the cage box, and the two positioning blocks are respectively positioned and clamped on both sides of the cage box.
8. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cage box is a rectangular structure, including a bottom surface, two long sides and two short sides, and the two long sides and two short sides of the cage box have a draft angle; two vertical reinforcing ribs are provided on the outer side of the short side along the height direction, and transverse reinforcing ribs are provided on the outer side of the long side along the length direction; a flange is provided on the top of the bottom box of the cage box, and the four corners of the flange are arc vertex angles.
9. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a control system; the upper box part also includes an upper box position detection system. When the robot grabs a group of cage boxes and places them on the lifting box support, the upper box position detection system sends a signal to the control system, and the control system controls the lifting box support to descend.
10. A cage box cleaning loading and unloading system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper box part also includes a dirty bedding dumping table for dumping and scraping dirty cage boxes, and the lower box part also includes a new bedding dispensing machine for adding new bedding into the cleaned cage boxes.