An automatic foam applicator with deviation correction function

Abstract

This utility model relates to an automatic foam applicator with correction mechanism, comprising a frame, a carrier assembly, a foam feeding mechanism, a foam detection camera, a waste bin, and a foam applicator assembly. The carrier assembly is located at the front of the frame, the foam feeding mechanism is located at the rear of the frame, and the foam applicator assembly spans above the carrier assembly and the foam feeding mechanism. The foam detection camera and the waste bin are located within the movement range of the foam applicator assembly, and the detection direction of the foam detection camera is upward along the Z-axis. This equipment replaces the manual application and removal of foam by using the foam detection camera, waste bin, and foam applicator assembly, resulting in high efficiency and guaranteed quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of automation equipment technology, and in particular to an automatic foam applicator with correction function. Background Technology

[0002] Sometimes, foam needs to be attached to certain parts. The parts themselves are rigid and easy to position. The foam, however, is flexible and difficult to position. Manually attaching foam can easily result in quality defects such as misalignment, blocked holes, surface dirt, and foam damage. Since production lines operate at high speeds, manual attachment involves many uncertainties, and can easily affect the production line's cycle time, especially when dealing with large quantities of foam. Therefore, specialized foam attaching equipment is generally used to complete this task.

[0003] Chinese patent CN211363532U discloses an automatic foam applicator for plastic products, capable of automatically applying foam to plastic products. However, this device does not perform quality inspection on the foam itself, so defective foam may be used on the product, thus affecting its quality.

[0004] Therefore, there is a need to provide a foam bonding device that can detect the quality of foam to solve the above problems. Utility Model Content

[0005] The main purpose of this invention is to provide an automatic foam applicator with correction function, which can replace manual foam applicator and waste foam removal operations by using a foam detection camera, waste bin and foam applicator assembly. It is not only more efficient but also ensures quality.

[0006] This utility model achieves the above-mentioned objective through the following technical solution: an automatic foam applicator with correction mechanism, comprising a frame, a carrier assembly, a foam feeding mechanism, a foam detection camera, a waste bin, and a foam applicator assembly; the carrier assembly is located at the front of the frame, the foam feeding mechanism is located at the rear of the frame, the foam applicator assembly spans above the carrier assembly and the foam feeding mechanism, the foam detection camera and the waste bin are located within the moving range of the foam applicator assembly, and the detection direction of the foam detection camera is upward along the Z-axis.

[0007] Specifically, the foam detection camera and the waste box are arranged side by side along the Y direction, and both are located between the carrier assembly and the foam feeding mechanism.

[0008] Specifically, there are two foam attaching components, namely a first foam attaching component and a second foam attaching component, which are respectively located on the Y-direction sides of the rear of the frame.

[0009] Furthermore, the foam-attaching assembly includes an X-axis transfer module, a Y-axis transfer module, a vertical plate, several Z-axis transfer modules, and several vacuum suction cups. The X-axis transfer module is fixed to the frame and located on the Y-axis side of the carrier assembly. The X-axis transfer module drives the Y-axis transfer module to move along the X-axis. The Y-axis transfer module drives the vertical plate to move along the Y-axis. All Z-axis transfer modules are fixed to the front of the vertical plate and each drives a vacuum suction cup to move along the Z-axis.

[0010] Furthermore, the drive head of each Z-axis transfer module is connected to its corresponding vacuum suction cup via a connecting slider, and the upright plate is provided with a Z-axis slide rail to guide the connecting slider to move along the Z-axis.

[0011] Furthermore, the frame is provided with a plurality of foam feeding mechanisms corresponding to the number of vacuum suction cups, and all foam feeding mechanisms are arranged side by side on the frame along the Y direction.

[0012] Specifically, the carrier assembly includes a download platform, a pair of low-position X-rails are provided on the frame, and a sliding block that matches the low-position X-rails is provided on the download platform.

[0013] Furthermore, the carrier assembly also includes an upper platform and an X-axis moving mechanism for driving the upper platform and the lower platform to move along the X-axis. The frame is provided with a pair of high-position X-axis guide rails, and the upper platform is provided with an upper slider that matches the high-position X-axis guide rails. The high-position X-axis guide rails are higher than the low-position X-axis guide rails, and the two low-position X-axis guide rails are located between the two high-position X-axis guide rails.

[0014] Furthermore, the X-axis moving mechanism includes a servo motor, an active synchronous pulley, a driven synchronous pulley, a synchronous belt, an upper connector, and a lower connector. The servo motor is fixed to the front of a high-position X-guide rail, and its drive shaft is along the Y-axis. The active synchronous pulley is connected to the drive shaft. The driven synchronous pulley is located at the rear of the high-position X-guide rail and is at the same height as the active synchronous pulley. The synchronous belt wraps around the active synchronous pulley and the driven synchronous pulley to form an upper horizontal section and a lower horizontal section. The upper connector connects the upper horizontal section to the upper platform, and the lower connector connects the lower horizontal section to the lower platform.

[0015] The beneficial effects of this utility model's technical solution are:

[0016] This equipment replaces the manual processes of applying and removing waste foam with a foam inspection camera, a waste bin, and a foam application assembly, resulting in high efficiency and guaranteed quality. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 A perspective view of an automatic foam applicator with correction function as an example;

[0018] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A magnified view of a portion of position A in the middle;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a top view of an automatic foam applicator with correction function, as described in the embodiment.

[0020] Figure 4 Diagram showing the positional relationship between the foam feeding mechanism and the high-position X-rail and the low-position X-rail;

[0021] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A magnified view of a portion of position B in the middle;

[0022] Figure 6 This is a 3D view of the first foam component.

[0023] The numbers in the diagram represent:

[0024] 100-Automatic foam attaching equipment

[0025] 11-Rack, 111-Foam Inspection Camera, 112-Scrap Box, 113a-High-position X-rail, 113b-Low-position X-rail;

[0026] 12-Carrier assembly, 121a-Upper platform, 1211a-Upper slider, 121b-Lower platform, 1211b-Lower slider, 122-X-direction moving mechanism, 1221-Servo motor, 1222-Active synchronous pulley, 1223-Driven synchronous pulley, 1224-Synchronous belt, 1225-Upper connector, 1226-Lower connector;

[0027] 13-Foam supply mechanism;

[0028] 14a-First foam assembly, 14b-Second foam assembly, 141-X-direction transfer module, 142-Y-direction transfer module, 143-Upright plate, 1431-Z-direction slide rail, 144-Z-direction transfer module, 145-Vacuum suction cup, 146-Connecting slider;

[0029] 200-parts;

[0030] 300-foam. Detailed Implementation

[0031] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments.

[0032] Example:

[0033] like Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, an automatic foam applicator 100 with correction function according to this utility model includes a frame 11, a carrier assembly 12, a foam feeding mechanism 13, a foam detection camera 111, a waste bin 112, and a foam applicator assembly. The carrier assembly 12 is located at the front of the frame 11, the foam feeding mechanism 13 is located at the rear of the frame 11, and the foam applicator assembly spans above the carrier assembly 12 and the foam feeding mechanism 13. The foam detection camera 111 and the waste bin 112 are located within the moving range of the foam applicator assembly. The detection direction of the foam detection camera 111 is upward along the Z-axis. The X-axis is the front-to-back direction of the device, the Y-axis is the left-to-right direction of the device, and the Z-axis is the vertical direction. Preferably, the foam detection camera 111 and the waste bin 112 are arranged side by side along the Y-axis, and both are located between the carrier assembly 12 and the foam feeding mechanism 13.

[0034] The carrier assembly 12 is used to position and place the part 200. The foam feeding mechanism 13 is used to position and supply foam 300. The foam attaching assembly is used to move the foam 300. The foam inspection camera 111 is used to inspect the foam 300. Only foam 300 with misalignment is adjusted and attached to the part 200, while foam 300 with poor appearance is sent to the waste bin 112. During the process of moving the foam 300 from the foam feeding mechanism 13 to the part 200, it inevitably passes over the foam inspection camera 111 and the waste bin 112, so the foam 300 can quickly switch between foam attaching and waste removal operations. The foam inspection camera 111, waste bin 112, and foam attaching assembly replace the manual operation of attaching foam 300 and removing waste foam, which not only has high work efficiency but also ensures quality.

[0035] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the first foam assembly 14a and the second foam assembly 14b are respectively located on both sides of the rear of the frame 11 in the Y direction. The first foam assembly 14a includes an X-axis transfer module 141, a Y-axis transfer module 142, a vertical plate 143, several Z-axis transfer modules 144, and several vacuum suction cups 145. The X-axis transfer module 141 is fixed on the frame 11 and located on the Y-axis side of the carrier assembly 12. The X-axis transfer module 141 drives the Y-axis transfer module 142 to move along the X-axis. The Y-axis transfer module 142 drives the vertical plate 143 to move along the Y-axis. All Z-axis transfer modules 144 are fixed on the front of the vertical plate 143 and each drives a vacuum suction cup 145 to move along the Z-axis. The drive head of each Z-axis transfer module 144 is connected to its corresponding vacuum suction cup 145 through a connecting slider 146. The vertical plate 143 is provided with a Z-axis slide rail 1431 to guide the connecting slider 146 to move along the Z-axis. The structure of the second foam component 14b is basically symmetrical to that of the first foam component 14a, and will not be described in detail here.

[0036] The Z-axis transfer module 144, vacuum suction cup 145, connecting slider 146, and Z-axis slide rail 1431 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence, forming multiple independently operating suction cup assemblies. Each suction cup assembly can pick up one foam 300 and move it to the corresponding position on the part 200 for placement. The X-axis transfer module 141 and Y-axis transfer module 142 can control the overall XY-axis movement of all suction cup assemblies. During the operation of a single foam placement assembly, the position of all foams 300 on it is detected by the same foam detection camera 111. When placing foam, the foam 300 arrives at the placement position one by one, and only one vacuum suction cup 145 descends at a time to place the foam 300, thus saving on the moving mechanism and speeding up the transfer efficiency.

[0037] like Figure 2 As shown, the frame 11 is provided with multiple foam feeding mechanisms 13 corresponding to the number of vacuum suction cups 145, and all foam feeding mechanisms 13 are arranged side by side on the frame 11 along the Y direction.

[0038] Most of the foam 300 is qualified, so under normal circumstances, the foam 300 can be fed synchronously. The center distance between adjacent suction cup components is the same, and the center distance between the side-by-side foam feeding mechanisms 13 will be the same as the previous center distance. Therefore, the X-axis transfer module 141 and the Y-axis transfer module 142 only need to align one vacuum suction cup 145 with the corresponding foam feeding mechanism 13, and the remaining vacuum suction cups 145 can be aligned with the remaining foam feeding mechanisms 13 at the same time. Therefore, the side-by-side vacuum suction cups 145 can descend synchronously to pick up the foam 300, thus saving time in the foam 300 picking stage. In this embodiment, a total of six foam 300s need to be attached, so two foam attaching components are used, and each foam attaching component contains three suction cup components. Therefore, three foam 300s can be picked up at the same time, thus maximizing work efficiency. In practical applications, the number of suction cup components on the foam attaching component is not limited to three, depending on the required number of foam 300s.

[0039] like Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the carrier assembly 12 includes an upper platform 121a, a lower platform 121b, and an X-direction moving mechanism 122 that drives the upper platform 121a and the lower platform 121b to move along the X direction. The frame 11 is provided with a pair of high-position X-guide rails 113a and a pair of low-position X-guide rails 113b. The two high-position X-guide rails 113a guide the upper platform 121a to move along the X direction. The high-position X-guide rails 113a are higher than the low-position X-guide rails 113b. The two low-position X-guide rails 113b are located between the two high-position X-guide rails 113a. The upper platform 121a is provided with an upper slider 1211a that matches the high-position X-guide rails 113a, and the lower platform 121b is provided with a lower slider 1211b that matches the low-position X-guide rails 113b.

[0040] The front of the carrier assembly 12 is a loading station, which is convenient for workers to load materials manually, while the rear is a foam-applying station, located away from the workers' operating range. Both the loading platform 121a and the unloading platform 121b can be interchanged between the two stations. That is, when part 200 is placed on the loading platform 121a at the loading station, another part 200 on the unloading platform 121b is having foam applied; when part 200 is placed on the unloading platform 121b at the loading station, another part 200 on the loading platform 121a is having foam applied.

[0041] like Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the X-axis moving mechanism 122 includes a servo motor 1221, an active synchronous pulley 1222, a driven synchronous pulley 1223, a synchronous belt 1224, an upper connector 1225, and a lower connector 1226. The servo motor 1221 is fixed to the front of a high-position X-guide rail 113a, and its drive shaft is along the Y-axis. The active synchronous pulley 1222 is connected to the drive shaft. The driven synchronous pulley 1223 is located at the rear of the high-position X-guide rail 113a and is at the same height as the active synchronous pulley 1222. The synchronous belt 1224 is wound around the active synchronous pulley 1222 and the driven synchronous pulley 1223 to form an upper horizontal section and a lower horizontal section. The upper connector 1225 connects the upper horizontal section to the upper platform 121a, and the lower connector 1226 connects the lower horizontal section to the lower platform 121b.

[0042] Because the loading platform 121a and the downloading platform 121b are always asynchronous when switching between the two workstations, only one X-axis moving mechanism 122 can be used. When the part 200 is large, the forward and backward distances of the loading platform 121a and the downloading platform 121b are also relatively long, so the X-axis moving mechanism 122 here adopts a synchronous belt drive. The upper and lower horizontal sections are not specific segments on the synchronous belt 1224 defined by material, but rather parts that are momentarily horizontal. During the change of direction, the servo motor 1221 always has one section horizontal at the top and the other horizontal at the bottom. The upper connecting piece 1225 is always on the upper horizontal section, and the lower connecting piece 1226 is always on the lower horizontal section, so both only move within their respective height ranges, thus moving the loading platform 121a and the downloading platform 121b. This way, only one servo motor 1221 is needed to drive the movement of the loading platform 121a and the downloading platform 121b, saving equipment costs.

[0043] The working process of this automatic foam applicator 100 is as follows:

[0044] 1. The loading platform 121a moves to the front of the frame 11. The worker takes a part 200 and places it on the loading platform 121a for positioning. Then the loading platform 121b moves backward to the working position of the first foam assembly 14a and the second foam assembly 14b.

[0045] 2. The first foam assembly 14a and the second foam assembly 14b work simultaneously, controlled by the X-axis transfer module 141 and the Y-axis transfer module 142, so that the vacuum suction cup 145 moves above the corresponding foam feeding mechanism 13. Then, the three Z-axis transfer modules 144 drive the vacuum suction cup 145 on them to descend and pick up the foam 300.

[0046] 3. Subsequently, the foam 300 is raised, and the first foam assembly 14a and the second foam assembly 14b move their respective foam 300s above the corresponding foam inspection camera 111, thereby determining the actual position of the foam 300 and detecting defects in the foam 300. If the foam 300 is unqualified, the foam assembly will discard the foam 300 into the waste box 112 and return to the foam feeding mechanism 13 to retrieve a new foam 300, until all foam 300s pass the inspection.

[0047] 4. When the equipment system receives the detection signal, it will automatically generate the movement path of the first foam assembly 14a and the second foam assembly 14b, so as to attach the foam 300 one by one to the part 200 located on the upper platform 121a.

[0048] 5. While foam is being applied to part 200 on loading platform 121a, download platform 121b moves to the front of frame 11. The worker places the second part 200 on it. After the foam is applied to the first part 200, loading platform 121a and download platform 121b are switched. The worker can then remove the first part from loading platform 121a and place the third part on it.

[0049] The above descriptions are merely some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the inventive concept of this utility model, and all such modifications and improvements fall within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. An automatic foam-taped equipment with deviation correction, characterized in that: The device includes a frame, a carrier assembly, a foam feeding mechanism, a foam detection camera, a waste bin, and a foam attaching assembly. The carrier assembly is located at the front of the frame, the foam feeding mechanism is located at the rear of the frame, the foam attaching assembly spans above the carrier assembly and the foam feeding mechanism, the foam detection camera and the waste bin are located within the moving range of the foam attaching assembly, and the detection direction of the foam detection camera is upward along the Z-axis.

2. The automatic foam bubble pasting equipment with deviation correction according to claim 1, characterized in that: The foam detection camera and the waste box are arranged side by side along the Y direction, and both are located between the carrier assembly and the foam feeding mechanism.

3. The automatic foam bubble pasting equipment with deviation correction according to claim 1, characterized in that: There are two foam attaching components, namely a first foam attaching component and a second foam attaching component, which are respectively located on the Y-direction sides of the rear part of the frame.

4. The automatic foam applicator with correction function according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that: The foam-attaching assembly includes an X-axis transfer module, a Y-axis transfer module, a vertical plate, several Z-axis transfer modules, and several vacuum suction cups. The X-axis transfer module is fixed to the frame and located on the Y-axis side of the carrier assembly. The X-axis transfer module drives the Y-axis transfer module to move along the X-axis. The Y-axis transfer module drives the vertical plate to move along the Y-axis. All Z-axis transfer modules are fixed to the front of the vertical plate and each drives a vacuum suction cup to move along the Z-axis.

5. The automatic foam applicator with correction function according to claim 4, characterized in that: Each Z-axis transfer module's drive head is connected to its corresponding vacuum suction cup via a connecting slider, and the upright plate is provided with a Z-axis slide rail to guide the connecting slider to move along the Z-axis.

6. The automatic foam applicator with correction function according to claim 4, characterized in that: The frame is equipped with multiple foam feeding mechanisms corresponding to the number of vacuum suction cups, and all foam feeding mechanisms are arranged side by side on the frame along the Y direction.

7. The automatic foam applicator with correction function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The carrier assembly includes a download platform, a pair of low-position X-rails are provided on the frame, and a sliding block that matches the low-position X-rails is provided on the download platform.

8. The automatic foam applicator with correction function according to claim 7, characterized in that: The carrier assembly also includes an upper platform and an X-axis moving mechanism that drives the upper platform and the lower platform to move along the X-axis. The frame is provided with a pair of high-position X-axis guide rails, and the upper platform is provided with an upper slider that matches the high-position X-axis guide rails. The high-position X-axis guide rails are higher than the low-position X-axis guide rails, and the two low-position X-axis guide rails are located between the two high-position X-axis guide rails.

9. The automatic foam applicator with correction function according to claim 8, characterized in that: The X-axis moving mechanism includes a servo motor, a driving synchronous pulley, a driven synchronous pulley, a synchronous belt, an upper connector, and a lower connector. The servo motor is fixed to the front of a high-position X-guide rail, and its drive shaft is along the Y-axis. The driving synchronous pulley is connected to the drive shaft. The driven synchronous pulley is located at the rear of the high-position X-guide rail and is at the same height as the driving synchronous pulley. The synchronous belt wraps around the driving synchronous pulley and the driven synchronous pulley to form an upper horizontal section and a lower horizontal section. The upper connector connects the upper horizontal section to the upper loading platform, and the lower connector connects the lower horizontal section to the lower loading platform.

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