Appearance inspection apparatus

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of battery production equipment, and discloses appearance inspection equipment which is suitable for inspecting the appearance of a material, and the material comprises a first surface and a second surface which are oppositely arranged; the appearance inspection equipment comprises a first conveying device and a second conveying device, wherein the first conveying device is suitable for conveying materials and enabling first surfaces of the materials to face one side far away from the first conveying device; the front face recognition structure is arranged on the relative upper portion of the rotary disc and is suitable for shooting the first face of the material; the second conveying device is suitable for conveying the materials and enabling the second surfaces of the materials to face one side far away from the second conveying device; and the reverse face recognition structure is arranged on the relative lower portion of the second conveying device, and the reverse face recognition structure is suitable for shooting the second face of the material. According to the appearance inspection equipment provided by the utility model, double-sided appearance photographing of materials can be realized, so that the appearance inspection manpower is saved, the product manufacturing efficiency is improved, and the occurrence of misjudgment of defective products is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of battery production equipment technology, specifically to an appearance inspection device. Background Technology

[0002] Traditional product appearance inspection techniques rely on visual inspection by personnel according to appearance standards. This method is inefficient and prone to misjudging defective products, posing a risk of defective products entering the market.

[0003] Taking battery cells in the battery industry as an example, both the front and back sides need to be inspected, and there is a lack of devices in the relevant technologies to inspect the products on both sides. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides an appearance inspection device to solve the problem of how to perform double-sided inspection of products.

[0005] This utility model provides a visual inspection device suitable for visually inspecting materials, the materials including a first side and a second side arranged opposite to each other; the visual inspection device includes:

[0006] A first conveying device is adapted to convey materials and to position the first surface of the materials toward a side away from the first conveying device.

[0007] A front-facing recognition structure is positioned above the first conveying device, and the front-facing recognition structure is suitable for photographing the first side of the material.

[0008] A second conveying device is adapted to convey materials and to position the second surface of the materials toward a side away from the second conveying device.

[0009] The reverse identification structure is located below the second conveying device and is suitable for photographing the second side of the material.

[0010] Beneficial effects: The appearance inspection equipment provided by the embodiments of this utility model can realize double-sided appearance photography of materials by setting the front identification structure above the first conveying device and the back identification structure below the second conveying device, thereby saving manpower for appearance inspection, improving product manufacturing efficiency, and reducing the occurrence of misjudgment of defective products.

[0011] In one optional embodiment, the first conveying device includes a turntable with a plurality of bottom-mounted fixtures arranged on it. The bottom-mounted fixtures are adapted to pick up materials and make the first surface of the materials face away from the turntable. The turntable has a plurality of working stations and is adapted to drive the bottom-mounted fixtures to rotate so that each bottom-mounted fixture corresponds to one working station.

[0012] The front recognition structure is located above one of the working stations of the turntable, and the front recognition structure is suitable for photographing the first side of the material.

[0013] The second conveying device includes a multi-arm robot with multiple arms, each arm equipped with a top-mounted fixture. The top-mounted fixture is adapted to pick up materials and position the second surface of the materials away from the arms. The multi-arm robot has multiple workstations, one of which corresponds to one of the workstations on the turntable, so as to transfer materials from the turntable to the multi-arm robot. The multi-arm robot is adapted to drive the top-mounted fixtures to rotate, so that each top-mounted fixture corresponds to one workstation.

[0014] The reverse recognition structure is located below one of the working stations of the multi-arm robot, and is suitable for photographing the second side of the material.

[0015] Beneficial Effects: The appearance inspection equipment provided by the embodiments of this utility model, by setting the front recognition structure above one of the working stations of the turntable and the back recognition structure below one of the working stations of the multi-arm robot, wherein the bottom fixture is suitable for fixing the material above it and the top fixture is suitable for fixing the material below it, can realize double-sided appearance photography of the material, thereby saving manpower for appearance inspection, improving product manufacturing efficiency, and reducing the occurrence of misjudgment of defective products. In addition, by separating the front and back appearance photography, the multi-arm robot and the turntable can decompose the cycle movements, reduce CT time (cycle time, which refers to the time required to manufacture one unit of product or complete one work cycle on average in a certain process), realize high-speed product inspection, and improve the production capacity of the equipment.

[0016] In one optional implementation, the rotary table's operating station includes a feeding station; the visual inspection equipment further includes:

[0017] Feed conveyor, suitable for receiving materials;

[0018] A transfer device suitable for transferring materials from a feed conveyor to a feed station.

[0019] In one alternative implementation, the rotary table's workstations include a reloading station; the visual inspection equipment further includes a reloading conveyor, adapted to receive materials that are determined to be misjudged after re-inspection;

[0020] The transfer device is also suitable for transferring materials from the recharge conveyor to the recharge station.

[0021] Beneficial effects: This embodiment sets up a re-feeding conveyor and uses a transfer device to transfer the materials on the re-feeding conveyor to the re-feeding station, so as to realize the automatic picking and placing of products from the re-feeding conveyor to the re-feeding station of the turntable, realize the product re-feeding detection function, and improve personnel efficiency.

[0022] In one alternative implementation, the rotary table's workstation includes a transfer station; the multi-arm robot's workstation includes a material handling station.

[0023] The rotation axis of the multi-arm robot is defined as the height direction;

[0024] The multi-arm robotic arm includes a lifting device, which is adapted to drive the arm to move up and down in the height direction so that the arm can switch between a normal state and a material picking state.

[0025] When the top-mounted fixture picks up materials, the surface that is in contact with the first side of the material is the picking plane;

[0026] Under normal conditions, the height difference between the material-picking plane of the top fixture and the material-picking plane of the bottom fixture is greater than the thickness of the material. In the material-picking state, the top fixture located at the material-picking station descends and contacts the first surface of the material located at the transfer station to pick up the material.

[0027] Beneficial effects: In order to avoid interference between the multi-arm robot and the turntable, under normal conditions, the height difference between the material picking plane of the top tooling fixture and the material picking plane of the bottom tooling fixture is greater than the thickness of the material, thereby ensuring the normal rotation of the turntable.

[0028] In one alternative embodiment, the lifting device includes: a pull-down assembly adapted to lower the boom to switch the boom from a normal state to a material-picking state;

[0029] The pull-down assembly includes: a cylinder; a lifting slider driven by the cylinder; and a pull-down arm fixed to the lifting slider.

[0030] A pull-down latch is fixed at the bottom of the boom, and the pull-down arm is movably embedded in the pull-down latch.

[0031] The pull-down arm is adapted to follow the movement of the lifting slider in order to drive the pull-down block to descend.

[0032] In one alternative implementation, the multi-arm robotic arm also includes a support frame;

[0033] The lifting device also includes: a rebound section, which is located between the boom and the support frame;

[0034] When the boom moves from the normal state to the material-retrieving state, the spring is under pressure; the spring is adapted to drive the boom to switch back from the material-retrieving state to the normal state after the downward force disappears.

[0035] In one alternative embodiment, the working station of the multi-arm robot includes a discharge station; the appearance inspection equipment further includes: a discharge conveyor, suitable for conveying inspected and qualified materials; the top fixture of the discharge station is located above the discharge conveyor, and the top fixture releases materials to deliver the materials to the discharge conveyor.

[0036] And / or,

[0037] The working stations of the multi-arm robotic arm include a defect removal station; the appearance inspection equipment also includes: a defect removal conveyor, suitable for conveying materials that fail the inspection; the top fixture of the defect removal station is located above the defect removal conveyor, and the top fixture releases materials to put the materials into the defect removal conveyor.

[0038] Beneficial effects: For materials that pass inspection, when the multi-arm robot rotates to the discharge station, the material is released so that it can be sent to the downstream process via the discharge conveyor. For materials that fail inspection, when the multi-arm robot rotates to the defective material removal station, the material is released so that it can be sent to the downstream process via the defective material removal conveyor.

[0039] In one alternative embodiment, the visual inspection equipment includes a conveyor, which includes at least one of an infeed conveyor, a refill conveyor, an outfeed conveyor, and a defect removal conveyor;

[0040] The conveyor includes a positioning baffle, which is located at the end of the conveyor along the conveying direction to limit the material.

[0041] Beneficial effects: By setting the positioning baffle at the end of the conveyor along the conveying direction, the material can be limited, so that the material stops moving when it comes into contact with the positioning baffle, thus making it easier for the material to be grabbed.

[0042] In one alternative embodiment, the top-mounted tooling fixture and / or the bottom-mounted tooling fixture includes: a suction cup portion adapted to conform to the surface of the material and adsorb the material;

[0043] The top-mounted fixture and / or bottom-mounted fixture are electrically connected to a negative pressure device suitable for generating negative pressure.

[0044] Beneficial effects: By controlling the pressure state of the externally installed negative pressure device, switching between negative pressure and normal pressure, the tooling fixture can grasp and release materials.

[0045] In one optional implementation, the appearance inspection equipment further includes: a control module electrically connected to the front recognition structure and the back recognition structure; the control module controls the multi-arm robot to deliver the material to the defective conveyor or the discharge conveyor based on the imaging results of the front recognition structure and the back recognition structure. Attached Figure Description

[0046] To more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of this utility model or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0047] Figure 1 This is an overall schematic diagram of the appearance inspection equipment of this utility model;

[0048] Figure 2 This is a top view of the appearance inspection equipment of this utility model;

[0049] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the four-arm robotic arm, defective conveyor, and reverse identification structure of this utility model.

[0050] Figure 4 This is a top view of the four-arm robotic arm, defective conveyor, and reverse identification structure of this utility model;

[0051] Figure 5 for Figure 4 Schematic diagram of section AA;

[0052] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the feeding conveyor, reloading conveyor, multi-station robotic arm, front recognition structure, and turntable of this utility model.

[0053] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures:

[0054] 1. Feed conveyor; 11. Positioning baffle; 2. Recharge conveyor; 3. Discharge conveyor; 4. Defective material discharge conveyor;

[0055] 5. Multi-arm robotic arm; 51. Boom; 511. Top-mounted tooling fixture; 52. Pull-down assembly; 521. Pull-down arm; 522. Cylinder; 523. Lifting slider; 53. Rotating assembly; 54. Pull-down latch; 55. Springback section;

[0056] 6. Turntable; 61. Bottom-mounted tooling fixture; 7. Front recognition structure; 8. Back recognition structure; 9. Multi-station robotic arm; 91. Robotic arm tooling fixture. Detailed Implementation

[0057] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this utility model clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this utility model, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of this utility model.

[0058] In the description of this utility model, it should be noted that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship, are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this utility model. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0059] In the description of this utility model, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "joining" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model according to the specific circumstances.

[0060] Furthermore, the technical features involved in the different embodiments of this utility model described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0061] The following is combined with Figures 1 to 6 The following describes embodiments of the present invention.

[0062] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a visual inspection device is provided, suitable for visually inspecting materials, the materials including a first side and a second side disposed opposite to each other; the visual inspection device includes:

[0063] A first conveying device is adapted to convey materials and to position the first surface of the materials toward a side away from the first conveying device.

[0064] The front recognition structure 7 is located above the first conveying device and is suitable for photographing the first side of the material.

[0065] A second conveying device is adapted to convey materials and to position the second surface of the materials toward a side away from the second conveying device.

[0066] The reverse side recognition structure 8 is located below the second conveying device and is suitable for photographing the second side of the material.

[0067] The appearance inspection equipment provided in the embodiments of this utility model can realize double-sided appearance photography of materials by setting the front identification structure above the first conveying device and the back identification structure below the second conveying device, thereby saving manpower for appearance inspection, improving product manufacturing efficiency, and reducing the occurrence of misjudgment of defective products.

[0068] In some embodiments, the first conveying device includes a turntable 6, on which a plurality of bottom tooling fixtures 61 are provided. The bottom tooling fixtures 61 are adapted to pick up materials and make the first surface of the materials face away from the turntable 6. The turntable 6 has a plurality of working stations and is adapted to drive the bottom tooling fixtures 61 to rotate so that each bottom tooling fixture 61 corresponds to one working station.

[0069] The front recognition structure 7 is set above one of the working stations of the turntable 6, and the front recognition structure 7 is suitable for taking pictures of the first side of the material.

[0070] The second conveying device includes a multi-arm robot 5 with multiple arms 51, each arm 51 being equipped with a top-mounted fixture 511. The top-mounted fixture 511 is adapted to pick up materials and position the second surface of the materials away from the arm 51. The multi-arm robot 5 has multiple working stations, one of which corresponds to one of the working stations of the turntable 6, so as to transfer materials from the turntable 6 to the multi-arm robot 5. The multi-arm robot 5 is adapted to drive the top-mounted fixture 511 to rotate, so that each top-mounted fixture 511 corresponds to one working station.

[0071] The reverse recognition structure 8 is located below one of the working stations of the multi-arm robot 5, and the reverse recognition structure 8 is suitable for photographing the second side of the material.

[0072] The appearance inspection equipment provided in this embodiment of the utility model, by setting the front recognition structure 7 above one of the working stations of the turntable 6 and setting the back recognition structure 8 below one of the working stations of the multi-arm robot 5, wherein the bottom fixture 61 is suitable for fixing the material above it, and the top fixture 511 is suitable for fixing the material below it, can realize double-sided appearance photography of the material, and the vision software uses algorithms to determine whether the product appearance meets the appearance standards, thereby saving appearance inspection manpower, improving product manufacturing efficiency, and reducing the occurrence of misjudgment of defective products. In addition, by separating the front appearance photography and the back appearance photography, the multi-arm robot 5 and the turntable 6 decompose the cycle action, reducing the CT time cycle time, which refers to the time required to manufacture one unit of product or complete one work cycle on average in a certain process, realizing high-speed product inspection and improving the production capacity of the equipment.

[0073] It should be noted that the use of visual software to determine whether a product's appearance meets appearance standards through algorithms is a very mature application method in related technologies. This embodiment does not involve improvements to the software algorithm, and will not be elaborated on further here.

[0074] In this embodiment, the multi-arm robot 5 can specifically be a four-arm robot, which is equipped with four arms 51, and the adjacent arms are arranged at 90 degrees. The multi-arm robot 5 has multiple working stations. When it is a four-arm robot, it has four working stations, which are: material picking station, reverse side recognition station, material unloading station, and defect removal station.

[0075] The reverse recognition structure 8 is located below the reverse recognition station of the multi-arm robot 5.

[0076] In this embodiment, the turntable 6 may specifically be equipped with four bottom-mounted tooling fixtures 61, forming four working stations. The four bottom-mounted tooling fixtures 61 are arranged around the turntable 6 at 90-degree angles to each other. The four working stations of the turntable 6 are: feeding station, reloading station, front recognition station, and transfer station.

[0077] Among them, the front recognition structure 7 is set above the front recognition station of the turntable 6.

[0078] As an alternative, turntable 6 can be replaced with a single-channel module vacuum platform, but single-channel production efficiency is low, affecting the equipment's CT time.

[0079] As an alternative implementation, the multi-arm robotic arm 5 can be replaced by a multi-degree-of-freedom robot or a three-axis servo module.

[0080] In some embodiments, the working station of the turntable 6 includes a feeding station; the visual inspection equipment further includes:

[0081] Feed conveyor 1 is suitable for receiving materials conveyed from upstream.

[0082] A transfer device is suitable for transferring materials on the feed conveyor 1 to the feed station.

[0083] In this embodiment, the multi-station robotic arm 9 can be a four-axis robot.

[0084] The material on the feed conveyor 1 is transported by a four-axis robot to the bottom fixture 61 of the feed station on the turntable 6.

[0085] The turntable 6 is driven to rotate by a DD motor. After the material is fixed to the bottom fixture 61 of the feeding station, the DD motor rotates to send the material to the opposite side of the front recognition structure 7 and take pictures of the material.

[0086] The transfer device includes a multi-station robotic arm 9.

[0087] As an alternative implementation, the multi-station robotic arm 9 can be replaced with a three-axis servo module.

[0088] In some embodiments, the working station of the turntable 6 includes a re-feeding station; the appearance inspection equipment also includes: a re-feeding conveyor 2, adapted to receive materials that are determined to be misjudged after re-inspection;

[0089] The multi-station robotic arm 9 is also suitable for transferring materials from the reloading conveyor 2 to the reloading station.

[0090] For some materials that fail the test, they will undergo a manual re-inspection process. Materials that are deemed to have been misjudged after the re-inspection will be manually sent back to the re-feeding conveyor 2 to realize the product re-feeding test function.

[0091] In this embodiment, by setting up a reloading conveyor 2 and using a multi-station robotic arm 9 to transfer the materials on the reloading conveyor 2 to the reloading station, the product is automatically picked up and placed from the reloading conveyor 2 to the reloading station of the turntable 6, realizing the product reloading detection function and improving personnel efficiency.

[0092] In some embodiments, the working station of the turntable 6 includes a transfer station; the working station of the multi-arm robot 5 includes a material handling station.

[0093] The rotation axis of the multi-arm robotic arm 5 is defined as the height direction;

[0094] The multi-arm robotic arm 5 includes a lifting device, which is adapted to drive the arm 51 to move up and down in the height direction so that the arm 51 can switch between a normal state and a material picking state.

[0095] When the top-mounted fixture 511 picks up materials, the surface that is in contact with the first side of the material is the picking plane;

[0096] In normal conditions, the height difference between the picking plane of the top tooling fixture 511 and the picking plane of the bottom tooling fixture 61 is greater than the thickness of the material; in the picking state, the top tooling fixture 511 located at the picking station descends and contacts the first surface of the material located at the transfer station to pick up the material.

[0097] After the material is identified on the front of the turntable 6, the turntable 6 is rotated again to move the material to the transfer station. The material picking station of the multi-arm robot 5 and the transfer station of the turntable 6 overlap in height.

[0098] Furthermore, to avoid interference between the multi-arm robotic arm 5 and the turntable 6, under normal conditions, the height difference between the material-picking plane of the top tooling fixture 511 and the material-picking plane of the bottom tooling fixture 61 is greater than the thickness of the material, thereby ensuring the normal rotation of the turntable 6.

[0099] Simultaneously, by equipping the multi-arm robotic arm 5 with a lifting device, which is suitable for driving the arm 51 to rise and fall along the height direction, the arm 51 can switch between a normal state and a material-grabbing state. In the material-grabbing state, the top-mounted fixture 511 at the material-grabbing station descends and contacts the upper surface of the material at the transfer station to pick up the material, thus enabling the multi-arm robotic arm 5 to grasp the material. This facilitates the transfer of the material for subsequent reverse-side photography.

[0100] Both the top fixture 511 and the bottom fixture 61 use negative pressure adsorption to pick up materials. When the top fixture 511 at the material picking station descends and comes into contact with the upper surface of the material at the transfer station, the top fixture 511 applies negative pressure, while the bottom fixture 61 releases pressure to release the adsorption of the material.

[0101] In some embodiments, combined with Figure 3 , Figure 5 As shown, the lifting device includes: a pull-down assembly 52, which is adapted to drive the boom 51 to descend so as to switch the boom 51 from the normal state to the material picking state;

[0102] The pull-down assembly 52 includes: a cylinder 522; a lifting slider 523 driven by the cylinder 522; and a pull-down arm 521 fixed to the lifting slider 523.

[0103] A pull-down block 54 is fixed at the bottom of the boom 51, and the pull-down arm 521 is movably embedded in the pull-down block 54;

[0104] The pull-down arm 521 is adapted to follow the movement of the lifting slider 523 to drive the pull-down block 54 to descend.

[0105] Combination Figure 4As shown, in this embodiment, there can be multiple pull-down components 52, such as three. The three pull-down components 52 correspond to three of the four booms 51. Each of the four booms 51 is provided with a pull-down latch 54, and the distance from the central axis of each pull-down latch 54 is the same. The sides of the pull-down latches 54 are all through-holes, so that the pull-down arms 521 can be accurately inserted into the pull-down latches 54 when the booms 51 rotate.

[0106] In some embodiments, the multi-arm robotic arm 5 further includes a support frame; wherein the support frame can be a fixed part of the multi-arm robotic arm 5;

[0107] The lifting device also includes: a springback section 55, which is disposed between the boom 51 and the support frame;

[0108] When the boom 51 moves from the normal state to the material picking state, the spring section 55 is under pressure; the spring section 55 is adapted to drive the boom 51 to switch back from the material picking state to the normal state after the downward force disappears.

[0109] In some embodiments, the working station of the multi-arm robot 5 includes a discharge station; the appearance inspection equipment further includes: a discharge conveyor 3, which is adapted to deliver the qualified materials to the downstream process; the top tooling fixture 511 of the discharge station is located above the discharge conveyor 3, and the top tooling fixture 511 releases the material to deliver the material to the discharge conveyor 3.

[0110] And / or,

[0111] The working station of the multi-arm robot 5 includes a defect removal station; the appearance inspection equipment also includes: a defect removal conveyor 4, which is suitable for sending unqualified materials to the downstream process; the top fixture 511 of the defect removal station is located above the defect removal conveyor 4, and the top fixture 511 releases materials to put the materials into the defect removal conveyor 4.

[0112] Based on vision software, for materials that pass inspection, the multi-arm robot 5 releases the material when it rotates to the discharge station, so that the qualified material can be sent to the downstream process via the discharge conveyor 3. For materials that fail inspection, the multi-arm robot 5 releases the material when it rotates to the defective material removal station, so that the defective material can be sent to the downstream process via the defective material removal conveyor 4.

[0113] In some embodiments, the multi-arm robotic arm 5 includes a rotating assembly 53 adapted to rotate the arm 51. Specifically, the rotating assembly 53 may be a DD motor.

[0114] As an alternative implementation, the DD motor used in the rotating component 53 can be replaced by a cam divider or a servo motor, but the latter two methods have lower precision.

[0115] In some embodiments, the visual inspection equipment includes a conveyor, which includes at least one of an infeed conveyor 1, a refill conveyor 2, an outfeed conveyor 3, and a defect removal conveyor 4;

[0116] The conveyor includes a positioning baffle 11, which is located at the end of the conveyor along the conveying direction to limit the material.

[0117] By setting the positioning baffle 11 at the end of the conveyor along the conveying direction, the material can be limited so that it stops moving when it comes into contact with the positioning baffle 11, thus making it easier for the material to be gripped.

[0118] In some embodiments, the top tooling fixture 511 and / or the bottom tooling fixture 61 include: a suction cup portion adapted to conform to the surface of the material and adsorb the material;

[0119] The top-mounted fixture 511 and / or the bottom-mounted fixture 61 are electrically connected to an externally installed negative pressure device.

[0120] The end of the multi-station robotic arm 9 is provided with a robotic arm tooling fixture 91, which is also provided with a suction cup and is connected to an external negative pressure device.

[0121] By controlling the pressure state of an externally installed negative pressure device, switching between negative pressure and normal pressure, the tooling fixture can grasp and release materials.

[0122] In some embodiments, the appearance inspection equipment further includes: a control module electrically connected to the front recognition structure 7 and the back recognition structure 8; the control module controls the multi-arm robot 5 to deliver the material to the defective conveyor 4 or the discharge conveyor 3 based on the imaging results of the front recognition structure 7 and the back recognition structure 8.

[0123] It should be noted that the control module has built-in visual algorithm software, which can determine whether the product appearance meets the appearance standards based on the images captured by the front recognition structure 7 and the back recognition structure 8. The use of visual software to determine whether the product appearance meets the appearance standards is a very mature application method in related technologies, and this embodiment does not involve any improvement to the software algorithm, so it will not be elaborated further here.

[0124] Additionally, the control module is electrically connected to an externally installed negative pressure device to control the pressure state of the external negative pressure device, thereby enabling the tooling fixture to grasp and release materials.

[0125] The following describes the workflow of the visual inspection equipment provided in this embodiment:

[0126] 1) The feed conveyor 1 receives the material from the upstream and the positioning baffle 11 limits the material. When the material stops moving, the multi-station robotic arm grabs the material and transfers the material on the feed conveyor 1 to the feed station of the turntable 6.

[0127] 2) The bottom fixture 61 of the feeding station performs vacuum adsorption positioning on the material. As the turntable 6 rotates, the material is rotated to the front recognition station, and then the front recognition structure 7 takes a picture and transmits the image to the control module for recognition.

[0128] 3) After the front recognition structure 7 takes a picture, the turntable 6 continues to rotate, moving the material to the transfer station;

[0129] 4) The pull-down component 52 of the multi-arm robot 5 moves, causing the arm 51 to descend, so that the top tooling fixture 511 located at the material picking station descends and contacts the upper surface of the material located at the transfer station to pick up the material, thereby realizing the gripping of the material by the multi-arm robot 5.

[0130] 5) The multi-arm robotic arm 5 rotates to move the material to the reverse recognition station, where the reverse recognition structure 8 takes a picture and transmits the image to the control module for recognition;

[0131] 6) After the reverse recognition structure 8 finishes taking pictures, the multi-arm robot 5 continues to rotate. Based on the vision software, for qualified materials, when the multi-arm robot 5 rotates to the discharge station, the pull-down component 52 drives the arm 51 to descend and release the material so that the qualified material can be sent to the downstream process through the discharge conveyor 3; for unqualified materials, when the multi-arm robot 5 rotates to the defect removal station, the pull-down component 52 drives the arm 51 to descend and release the material so that the unqualified material can be sent to the downstream process through the defect removal conveyor 4.

[0132] 7) For materials that fail the inspection, manual re-inspection should be conducted to determine whether the judgment was incorrect;

[0133] 8) Materials that are deemed to have been misjudged after re-inspection will be manually sent back to the re-feeding conveyor 2, and the multi-station robotic arm 9 will transfer the materials on the re-feeding conveyor 2 to the re-feeding station. The turntable 6 will continue to rotate and the front and back appearance will be inspected again.

[0134] 9) The process ends.

[0135] Obviously, the above embodiments are merely examples for clear illustration and are not intended to limit the implementation. Although embodiments of the present invention have been described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications and variations fall within the scope defined by the present invention.

Claims

1. An appearance inspection apparatus characterized by comprising: Suitable for visual inspection of materials, the materials including a first side and a second side disposed opposite to each other; the visual inspection equipment includes: A first conveying device is adapted to convey the material and to position the first surface of the material toward a side away from the first conveying device; A front identification structure (7) is disposed above the first conveying device, and the front identification structure (7) is adapted to photograph the first side of the material; A second conveying device is adapted to convey the material and to position the second surface of the material toward a side away from the second conveying device; A reverse identification structure (8) is disposed below the second conveying device, and the reverse identification structure (8) is adapted to photograph the second side of the material.

2. The appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by, The first conveying device includes a turntable (6), on which a plurality of bottom-mounted fixtures (61) are provided. The bottom-mounted fixtures (61) are adapted to pick up the material and make the first surface of the material face away from the turntable (6). The turntable (6) has a plurality of working stations. The turntable (6) is adapted to drive the bottom-mounted fixtures (61) to rotate so that each bottom-mounted fixture (61) corresponds to one working station. The front recognition structure (7) is located above one of the working stations of the turntable (6), and the front recognition structure (7) is adapted to photograph the first side of the material. The second conveying device includes a multi-arm manipulator (5) with multiple arms (51), each arm (51) being provided with a top-mounted fixture (511), the top-mounted fixture (511) being adapted to pick up the material and make the second surface of the material face away from the arm (51); the multi-arm manipulator (5) has multiple working stations, one of the working stations of the multi-arm manipulator (5) corresponding to one of the working stations of the turntable (6) to transfer the material from the turntable (6) to the multi-arm manipulator (5); the multi-arm manipulator (5) is adapted to drive the top-mounted fixture (511) to rotate so that each top-mounted fixture (511) corresponds to one working station; The reverse identification structure (8) is located below one of the working positions of the multi-arm manipulator (5), and the reverse identification structure (8) is adapted to photograph the second side of the material.

3. The appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 2, characterized by The working station of the turntable (6) includes a feeding station; the appearance inspection equipment also includes: Feed conveyor (1), suitable for receiving materials; A transfer device adapted to transfer the material on the feed conveyor (1) to the feed station.

4. The appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 3, characterized by The turntable (6) has a re-feeding station; the appearance inspection equipment also includes a re-feeding conveyor (2), which is suitable for receiving materials that are identified as misjudged after re-inspection; The transfer device is also adapted to transfer the material on the re-feeding conveyor (2) to the re-feeding station.

5. The appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 2, characterized by The working station of the turntable (6) includes a transfer station; the working station of the multi-arm robot (5) includes a material picking station; The direction of the rotation axis of the multi-arm manipulator (5) is defined as the height direction; The multi-arm manipulator (5) includes a lifting device, which is adapted to drive the arm (51) to move up and down in the height direction so that the arm (51) can switch between a normal state and a material picking state; When the top-mounted tooling fixture (511) picks up the material, the surface that is in contact with the first side of the material is the material picking plane; In the normal state, the height difference between the material-picking plane of the top tooling fixture (511) and the material-picking plane of the bottom tooling fixture (61) is greater than the thickness of the material; in the material-picking state, the top tooling fixture (511) located at the material-picking station descends and contacts the first surface of the material located at the transfer station to pick up the material.

6. The appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 5, characterized by The lifting device includes a pull-down assembly (52), which is adapted to drive the boom (51) down to switch the boom (51) from the normal state to the material picking state. The pull-down assembly (52) includes: a cylinder (522); a lifting slider (523) driven by the cylinder (522); and a pull-down arm (521) fixed to the lifting slider (523). The bottom of the boom (51) is fixed with a pull-down block (54), and the pull-down arm (521) is movably embedded in the pull-down block (54); The pull-down arm (521) is adapted to follow the movement of the lifting slider (523) to drive the pull-down block (54) down.

7. The appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 5, characterized by The multi-arm robotic arm (5) also includes a support frame; The lifting device further includes a springback section (55), which is disposed between the boom (51) and the support frame; When the boom (51) moves from the normal state to the material-taking state, the spring-loaded part (55) is under pressure; the spring-loaded part (55) is adapted to drive the boom (51) to switch back from the material-taking state to the normal state after the pull force disappears.

8. The appearance inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized by The working station of the multi-arm manipulator (5) includes a material discharge station; the appearance inspection equipment also includes: a material discharge conveyor (3), which is suitable for conveying qualified materials; the top tooling fixture (511) of the material discharge station is located above the material discharge conveyor (3), and the top tooling fixture (511) releases the material to put the material into the material discharge conveyor (3); And / or, The working station of the multi-arm manipulator (5) includes a defect removal station; the appearance inspection equipment also includes a defect removal conveyor (4), which is suitable for conveying materials that fail the inspection; the top fixture (511) of the defect removal station is located above the defect removal conveyor (4), and the top fixture (511) releases the material to put the material into the defect removal conveyor (4).

9. The appearance inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized by The visual inspection equipment includes a conveyor, which includes at least one of an infeed conveyor (1), a refill conveyor (2), an outfeed conveyor (3), and a defective conveyor (4); The conveyor includes a positioning baffle (11), which is disposed at the end of the conveyor along the conveying direction to limit the material.

10. The appearance inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized by The top fixture (511) and / or the bottom fixture (61) include: a suction cup portion, adapted to adhere to the surface of the material and adsorb the material; The top fixture (511) and / or the bottom fixture (61) are connected in a conductive manner to a negative pressure device suitable for generating negative pressure.

11. The appearance inspection device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The appearance inspection equipment further includes a control module, which is electrically connected to the front recognition structure (7) and the back recognition structure (8); the control module controls the multi-arm manipulator (5) to put the material into the defective conveyor (4) or the discharge conveyor (3) based on the shooting results of the front recognition structure (7) and the back recognition structure (8).

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