Flat plate automatic feeding mechanism with separation function

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of flat plate feeding, and discloses an automatic flat plate feeding mechanism with a separating function, which comprises a rack and an adsorption component arranged at the bottom of the rack and used for adsorbing thin plates, and the rack comprises a main rack body and an auxiliary rack body hinged at the end part of the main rack body; a driving structure for driving the auxiliary frame body to turn over up and down is arranged between the main frame body and the auxiliary frame body, the auxiliary frame body turns over upwards to drive the end portions of the thin plates adsorbed on the auxiliary frame body to turn over and turn up till the end portions of the thin plates are separated from the thin plates below to generate a separation gap, and an air blowing structure for blowing air into the separation gap to enable the two thin plates adsorbed together to be separated is arranged on the auxiliary frame body. According to the feeding mechanism, the auxiliary frame body is driven to turn upwards, the ends of the thin plates adsorbed on the auxiliary frame body are driven to turn upwards and tilt, the thin plates are separated from the thin plates below to generate a separation gap, gas is blown into the separation gap, the two thin plates are driven to be gradually separated from the blowing ends in the blowing direction, separation is finally completed, and feeding of the single thin plates is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of flat plate feeding, in particular to an automatic flat plate feeding mechanism with a sheet separation function. Background Art

[0002] In the sheet metal cutting process, the sheet metal plate is first loaded onto the processing station, then the required shape is arranged on the sheet metal plate, and finally a laser cutting machine is used for processing to produce a sheet metal part of the target shape.

[0003] The Chinese patent application text with application number 202210729111.0 discloses a method and device for transporting thin plates, wherein the method for transporting thin plates is: a robot drives the thin plate transporting device to the upper surface of the thin plate, and the thin plate transporting device adsorbs the upper surface of the thin plate through multiple groups of adaptive vacuum adsorption components arranged on the frame, the adsorption end of the adaptive vacuum adsorption component flexibly contacts the upper surface of the thin plate, and the adaptive vacuum adsorption component adaptively adjusts according to the contour of the upper surface of the thin plate.

[0004] This solution uses a vacuum suction assembly to directly absorb the sheet metal to be processed. However, because the sheet metal (sheet metal) is relatively thin and contains a small amount of liquid such as rust-proof oil on its surface, when the sheet metal sheets are stacked, the combined effects of the liquid's surface tension and atmospheric pressure cause adjacent sheets to stick together, making it difficult to separate the sheets during loading, affecting normal processing. Utility Model Content

[0005] The utility model aims to solve the problem in the prior art that adjacent sheet metal plates (thin plates) are adsorbed together when stacked, making it difficult to load them individually, and provides an automatic sheet metal loading mechanism with a sheet separation function.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention is solved by the following technical solutions:

[0007] A flat plate automatic feeding mechanism with a sheet separation function includes a frame and an adsorption component arranged at the bottom of the frame for sucking thin plates. The frame includes a main frame and a sub-frame hingedly arranged at the end of the main frame. A driving structure is arranged between the main frame and the sub-frame to drive the sub-frame to flip up and down. The sub-frame flips upward to drive the end of the thin plate adsorbed thereon to flip up and lift up until it is separated from the thin plate below to produce a sheet separation gap. The sub-frame is provided with a blowing structure for blowing air into the sheet separation gap to separate the two thin plates adsorbed together.

[0008] With the above solution, the frame descends and the adsorption component adsorbs the thin plate under the frame. For the two thin plates adsorbed together by the liquid, applying force to the edge ends of the two thin plates will make it easier to separate the two thin plates than applying force to the center of the two thin plates. Therefore, the sub-frame is located above the edge of the thin plate, and the sub-frame is adsorbed on the upper end surface of the thin plate near the edge through the adsorption component, so that when the driving structure drives the sub-frame to flip upward, the end of the thin plate adsorbed on the sub-frame will also undergo a slight recoverable deformation upward, that is, flip up and warp, thereby separating the end of the adsorbed thin plate from the thin plate below to produce a separation gap.

[0009] The sheets are long, requiring the sub-frame to continuously tilt upward to separate them. However, excessive tilting can cause irreversible deformation and damage. Therefore, an air-blowing mechanism is added, allowing the sub-frame to tilt upward at just the right angle to create a gap between the ends of the sheets. Air is then blown into the gap along the length of the sheets, disrupting the surface tension of the liquid and the negative pressure created between the sheets and the liquid. This forces the sheets to gradually separate along their lengths, starting from the air-blowing end and ultimately completing the separation.

[0010] Preferably, the driving structure is a driving cylinder, the cylinder body of the driving cylinder is hinged to the main frame, and the end of the piston rod away from the cylinder body is hinged to the end of the auxiliary frame away from the main frame.

[0011] With the above solution, the piston rod of the driving cylinder retracts to drive the sub-frame to flip upward, and the piston rod of the driving cylinder extends to drive the sub-frame to flip downward.

[0012] Preferably, the blowing structure includes a nozzle for blowing air toward the spreading gap and a nozzle moving structure provided between the sub-frame and the nozzle for driving the nozzle to rise and fall and to drive the nozzle to reciprocate axially along the hinge axis of the sub-frame.

[0013] By adopting the above scheme, the nozzle is driven to rise and fall through the nozzle moving structure to adjust the position of the nozzle so that it is aligned with the separation gap. The axial direction of the hinge axis is the width direction of the thin plate. Since the thin plate is wide, the airflow blown out by a single nozzle is limited. Therefore, it is necessary to drive the nozzle to move back and forth continuously along the width direction to ensure the separation of the two thin plates.

[0014] Preferably, the nozzle moving structure includes a rodless cylinder fixedly mounted on the sub-frame, and the slide of the rodless cylinder reciprocates along the axial direction of the hinge shaft, and a lifting cylinder for driving the nozzle to rise and fall is fixedly mounted on the slide of the rodless cylinder.

[0015] With the above solution, the nozzle is arranged at the end of the piston rod of the lifting cylinder. The lifting cylinder drives the nozzle to move up and down, and the rodless cylinder drives the lifting cylinder and the nozzle to move back and forth along the axial direction of the hinge shaft.

[0016] Preferably, the main frame is provided with an auxiliary separation structure to prevent the two thin plates from being re-attached after separation. The auxiliary separation structure includes an insert plate that can be inserted into the separation gap and an insert plate moving structure that drives the insert plate to rise and fall and drives the insert plate to be horizontally inserted into or out of the separation gap.

[0017] With this solution, due to the long length of the sheets, the gap between the sheets gradually narrows and the nozzle's airflow decreases as the sheets separate to the second half, away from the nozzle. This reduces the efficiency of separating the two sheets and creates the risk of re-bonding. Therefore, an auxiliary separation mechanism is provided. The insert plate, driven by a moving insert plate mechanism, inserts the insert plate into the gap to prevent the two sheets from re-bonding. The insert plate is located below the sheet held by the frame, providing support and protection for the bottom surface of the sheet as the frame moves and feeds the material.

[0018] Preferably, the insert plate moving structure includes a second cylinder vertically fixed on the main frame and a first cylinder fixed to the piston rod end of the second cylinder and arranged to be horizontally telescopic. The piston rod of the first cylinder is arranged back to the spreading gap and the end thereof is fixed to the insert plate.

[0019] Using the above solution, the insert plate is arranged at the end of the piston rod of the first cylinder, the first cylinder is fixed to the end of the piston rod of the second cylinder, the first cylinder drives the insert plate to move in the direction away from the main frame, the second cylinder drives the first cylinder and the insert plate to descend until the insert plate is opposite to the sheet gap, and the first cylinder drives the insert plate to move in the direction close to the main frame so that the insert plate is inserted into the sheet gap.

[0020] Preferably, the adsorption component includes a deformable suction cup fixed to the bottom of the main frame and the auxiliary frame, and a driving component that drives the deformable suction cup to form a negative pressure or restore normal pressure.

[0021] Using the above solution, the bottom of the main frame is a vacuum suction cup, and the driving component extracts the air in the vacuum suction cup to form a negative pressure to adsorb the thin plate; when releasing the adsorption, the driving component drives the vacuum suction cup to connect with the outside world to restore normal pressure to release the adsorption of the thin plate.

[0022] The utility model has a significant technical effect due to the adoption of the above technical solution: the driving cylinder drives the sub-frame to flip upward, causing the end of the thin plate adsorbed thereon to flip up and tilt, separating from the thin plate below to create a separation gap. Gas is blown into the separation gap, driving the two thin plates to gradually separate from the blowing end along the blowing direction, and finally completing the separation, realizing the loading of a single thin plate. The auxiliary separation structure assists the separation while preventing the two separated thin plates from re-attaching, further improving the separation efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 This is a front view of a flat-plate automatic feeding mechanism with a sheet separation function in an embodiment;

[0024] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A magnified view of point A in the figure;

[0025] Figure 3 This is an axonometric diagram of a flat-plate automatic feeding mechanism with a sheet separation function in an embodiment;

[0026] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 Enlarged view of point B in .

[0027] The names of the parts indicated by the numerical labels in the above drawings are as follows: 1. Thin plate; 2. Frame; 201. Main frame; 202. Sub-frame; 203. Articulated shaft; 3. Spreading gap; 4. Driving cylinder; 5. Rodless cylinder; 501. Slide; 7. Lifting cylinder; 8. Nozzle; 9. Second cylinder; 10. First cylinder; 11. Insert plate; 12. Distance sensor; 13. Mounting plate; 14. Connecting plate; 15. Vacuum suction cup. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0029] Example

[0030] A flat plate automatic feeding mechanism with sheet separation function, refer to Figures 1 to 4 , including a frame 2, the frame 2 includes a main frame body 201 and a sub-frame body 202 hinged to the end of the main frame body 201, and the sub-frame body 202 is hinged to the main frame body 201 through a hinge shaft 203.

[0031] A vacuum cup 15 is fixedly mounted at the bottom of both the sub-frame 202 and the main frame 201. The formation of negative pressure or the restoration of normal pressure within the vacuum cup 15 is controlled by a drive assembly. The drive assembly includes a vacuum pump, a connecting pipe connecting the interior of the vacuum cup 15 and the vacuum pump at both ends, and a solenoid valve disposed on the connecting pipe to control whether the connecting pipe is connected to the outside world. Before vacuuming, the solenoid valve is closed, and the connecting pipe is not connected to the outside world. In other words, the vacuum cup 15, the connecting pipe, and the vacuum pump form a closed circuit. The vacuum pump draws air to create a negative pressure within the vacuum cup 15. To release suction, the vacuum pump stops and the solenoid valve opens, connecting the connecting pipe to the outside world. In other words, the vacuum cup 15 is connected to the outside world through the connecting pipe, and the pressure within the vacuum cup 15 is restored to normal, releasing suction. The aforementioned drive assembly and the connection between the drive assembly and the vacuum cup 15 are all conventional, not shown in the figure, and will not be described in detail here. In this embodiment, two vacuum cups 15 are disposed at the bottom of the sub-frame 202, and four are disposed at the bottom of the main frame 201.

[0032] A driving structure for driving the sub-frame 202 to flip up and down is provided between the main frame 201 and the sub-frame 202. The driving structure comprises a driving cylinder 4. The cylinder body of the driving cylinder 4 is hinged to the upper end surface of the main frame 201 near the sub-frame 202, and the end of the piston rod of the driving cylinder 4, which is away from the cylinder body, is hinged to the upper end surface of the sub-frame 202 away from the main frame 201. When the piston rod of the driving cylinder 4 retracts, the sub-frame 202 flips up, causing the end of the thin plate 1 adsorbed thereon to flip up and lift, separating from the thin plate 1 below to create a separation gap 3.

[0033] A rodless cylinder 5 (in this embodiment, a rodless cylinder model MY1H from RUHFUS) is fixedly installed on the side of the sub-frame 202 away from the main frame 201, and the slide 501 of the rodless cylinder 5 reciprocates along the axial direction of the hinge shaft 203 of the sub-frame 202. In this embodiment, the axial direction along the hinge shaft 203 is the width direction of the thin plate 1. A lifting cylinder 7 is vertically fixed on the slide 501 of the rodless cylinder 5. The cylinder body of the lifting cylinder 7 is fixedly connected to the slide 501 of the rodless cylinder 5. A mounting plate 13 is fixedly installed on the end of the piston rod of the lifting cylinder 7 away from its cylinder body. A nozzle 8 is fixedly installed on the mounting plate 13. The nozzle 8 is directed towards the spreading gap 3 under the joint adjustment of the rodless cylinder 5 and the lifting cylinder 7. The nozzle 8 is connected to an air source that controls the jet of air from the nozzle 8. The air source and the connection and control method between the air source and the nozzle 8 are prior art, not shown in the figure, and will not be described here. The direction of the air flow ejected from the nozzle 8 is the longitudinal direction of the thin plate 1 .

[0034] A second air cylinder 9 is vertically mounted on the side wall of the main frame 201. The cylinder body of the second air cylinder 9 is fixed to the main frame 201, and a first air cylinder 10 is fixed to the end of the piston rod of the second air cylinder 9 away from the cylinder body. The cylinder body of the first air cylinder 10 is fixed to the end of the piston rod of the second air cylinder 9. The piston rod of the first air cylinder 10 faces away from the main frame 201 and is arranged to be telescopic horizontally. A connecting plate 14 is fixed to the end of the piston rod of the first air cylinder 10 away from the cylinder body. An insert plate 11 is vertically mounted on the connecting plate 14, facing the main frame 201 and capable of being inserted into the sheet gap 3. That is, the first air cylinder 10 drives the insert plate 11 to move horizontally toward or away from the main frame 201 along the width direction of the thin plate 1, while the second air cylinder 9 drives the insert plate 11 to move vertically upward and downward along the thickness direction of the thin plate 1.

[0035] Because the sheet gap 3 is relatively small, to ensure smooth insertion of the insert plate 11 into the gap 3, the insert plate 11 must be lowered until it is aligned with the gap 3 before being moved closer to the main frame 201 and inserted into the gap 3. Therefore, a distance sensor 12 is provided at the bottom of the main frame 201. This distance sensor 12 detects the distance between the insert plate 11 and the sheet 1 attached to the frame 2. A control module is also provided, electrically connected to the distance sensor 12 and the second cylinder 9. The thickness parameters of the sheet 1 are preset within the control module. The control module receives data from the distance sensor 12 and calculates the distance between the insert plate 11 and the sheet 1 attached to the frame 2. Based on the preset thickness of the sheet 1 in the control module, the control module controls the distance the insert plate 11 descends to align with the gap 3. The distance sensor 12, the control module, and the connection and program control methods of the control module, the distance sensor 12, and the second cylinder 9 are all conventional and will not be described in detail here. The width of the thin plate 1 is a fixed value, and the distance of the inserting plate 11 inserted into the sheeting gap 3 does not require much accuracy, so the horizontal movement of the inserting plate 11 is not detected.

[0036] During loading, the frame 2 descends until the vacuum suction cup 15 seals against the upper end face of the thin plate 1. The drive assembly drives the vacuum suction cup 15 to form negative pressure, which adsorbs the thin plate 1 under the frame 2. The first cylinder 10 drives the insert plate 11 to move away from the main frame 201 until the insert plate 11 does not interfere with the thin plate 1 when it descends. The piston rod of the drive cylinder 4 retracts, thereby driving the sub-frame 202 to flip upward, causing the end of the thin plate 1 adsorbed on the sub-frame 202 to flip up and separate from the thin plate 1 below to create a sheet gap 3. The lifting cylinder 7 drives the nozzle 8 to rise and fall until the nozzle 8 is facing the sheet gap 3. The nozzle 8 blows air into the sheet gap 3, and the rodless cylinder 5 drives the blowing nozzle 8 to slide back and forth along the width direction of the thin plate 1, so that the two thin plates 1 gradually separate from the end close to the nozzle 8 to the end away from the nozzle 8 along the blowing direction. Distance sensor 12 and the control module operate to control second cylinder 9, driving insert plate 11 down until it is aligned with gap 3. First cylinder 10 drives insert plate 11 closer to main frame 201 and into gap 3. Nozzle 8 continues blowing until the two sheets 1 are completely separated. Frame 2 moves to load the sheet, and the piston rod of drive cylinder 4 extends, causing subframe 202 to flip downward and return to a horizontal position, restoring sheet 1 to its original flat shape.

[0037] When unloading, the first cylinder 10 drives the insert plate 11 to move away from the main frame 201 until it is separated from the thin plate 1. After the thin plate 1 is placed at the target position, the driving component drives the inside of the vacuum suction cup 15 to connect with the external atmospheric pressure to restore normal pressure, thereby releasing the adsorption of the thin plate 1. The thin plate 1 is separated from the vacuum suction cup 15 under the action of its own gravity.

[0038] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. All technical solutions based on the concept of the present invention are within the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, certain improvements and modifications that do not depart from the principles of the present invention should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic flat-plate feeding mechanism with a sheet separation function, comprising a frame (2) and an adsorption assembly disposed at the bottom of the frame (2) for adsorbing a thin plate (1), characterized in that: The frame (2) comprises a main frame (201) and a sub-frame (202) hingedly arranged at the end of the main frame (201); a driving structure for driving the sub-frame (202) to flip up and down is arranged between the main frame (201) and the sub-frame (202); the sub-frame (202) flips upward to drive the end of the thin plate (1) adsorbed thereon to flip up and tilt until it is separated from the thin plate (1) below to generate a separation gap (3); and a blowing structure for blowing air into the separation gap (3) to separate the two thin plates (1) adsorbed together is arranged on the sub-frame (202).

2. The automatic flat-plate feeding mechanism with sheet separation function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving structure is a driving cylinder (4), the cylinder body of the driving cylinder (4) is hinged to the main frame (201), and the end of the piston rod away from the cylinder body is hinged to the end of the auxiliary frame (202) away from the main frame (201).

3. The automatic flat-plate feeding mechanism with sheet separation function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air blowing structure comprises a nozzle (8) for ejecting air toward the spreading gap (3) and a nozzle moving structure arranged between the sub-frame (202) and the nozzle (8) for driving the nozzle (8) to rise and fall and for driving the nozzle (8) to reciprocate along the axial direction of the hinge shaft (203) of the sub-frame (202).

4. The automatic flat-plate feeding mechanism with sheet separation function according to claim 3, characterized in that: The nozzle moving structure includes a rodless cylinder (5) fixedly arranged on a sub-frame (202), and a slide (501) of the rodless cylinder (5) reciprocates along the axial direction of the hinge shaft (203), and a lifting cylinder (7) for driving the nozzle (8) to rise and fall is fixedly arranged on the slide (501) of the rodless cylinder (5).

5. The automatic flat-plate feeding mechanism with sheet separation function according to claim 1, characterized in that: An auxiliary separation structure for preventing the two thin plates (1) from being reattached after separation is provided on the main frame (201). The auxiliary separation structure comprises an inserting plate (11) that can be inserted into the separation gap (3) and an inserting plate moving structure that drives the inserting plate (11) to rise and fall and drives the inserting plate (11) to be horizontally inserted into or out of the separation gap (3).

6. The automatic flat-plate feeding mechanism with sheet separation function according to claim 5, characterized in that: The insert plate moving structure comprises a second cylinder (9) vertically fixed on the main frame (201) and a first cylinder (10) fixed to the piston rod end of the second cylinder (9) and arranged to be telescopically arranged horizontally. The piston rod of the first cylinder (10) is arranged to face away from the spreading gap (3) and the insert plate (11) is fixed at its end.

7. The automatic flat-plate feeding mechanism with sheet separation function according to claim 6, characterized in that: The adsorption component comprises a vacuum suction cup (15) fixed at the bottom of the main frame (201) and the auxiliary frame (202), and a driving component for driving the vacuum suction cup (15) to form a negative pressure or restore normal pressure.

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