A device for automatically taking and discharging freeze-drying trays

Abstract

The utility model relates to food vacuum freeze drying technical field, specifically provide a kind of to freeze-dried material tray automatic taking tray, unloading device, including trolley rotating mechanism, two-axis taking tray mechanism, drum conveying mechanism and turnover unloading mechanism.The utility model is the intelligent automation production line of three stations of unloading tray, unloading, turnover tray, and its accurate logic control system maximizes the production efficiency, avoids line empty car waiting, and the unloading tray, unloading work originally by 6 people operation is reduced to 2 people operation, single car unloading time is reduced from 25 minutes to 13 minutes, greatly improves production efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of food vacuum freeze-drying technology, specifically relating to a device for automatically picking up and unloading freeze-drying trays. Background Technology

[0002] The freeze-drying industry is booming, but it remains a labor-intensive sector. After freeze-drying, the materials are transferred from the freeze-drying silo to the unloading area. Manual labor is required to unload the pallets containing the freeze-dried material one by one from the pallets and pour them into a vibrating screen for sorting or packaging. Manual pallet handling is physically demanding; each pallet weighs approximately 6 kg. To maximize output per silo, each pallet cart holds 76 pallets, with the top pallet reaching a height of 2 meters. Frequent manual operation easily leads to fatigue, and the need to step on pedals to retrieve the top pallets increases the risk of worker injuries from missteps or pallets falling and spilling material. To mitigate these fatigue-related incidents, factories increase the number of operators. This process wastes significant human resources. Due to these limitations, unloading a single cart of 76 pallets takes approximately 25-35 minutes.

[0003] To improve production efficiency, free up manpower, and avoid incidents that could affect safe production, a device was invented that can automatically retrieve trays from freeze-dried material carts and automatically unload materials from pallets. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of the shortcomings of the existing technology, the purpose of this utility model is to provide a device for automatically picking up and unloading freeze-dried material trays, which solves the problems mentioned in the background technology.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution: a device for automatically picking up and unloading freeze-dried material trays, comprising a material cart rotation mechanism, a two-axis tray picking mechanism, a roller conveying mechanism, and a tilting unloading mechanism;

[0006] The material cart rotation mechanism includes a first blocking pin, a second blocking pin, a pressure pulley, and a sensor, used to lock the material cart and drive it to rotate 180°.

[0007] The two-axis pallet-grabbing mechanism includes a base, an X-axis drive servo, a Y-axis drive servo, a fork, a pneumatic gripper, and a sensor, used to alternately grab pallets in the material cart and transfer them to the roller conveyor mechanism.

[0008] The roller conveyor mechanism consists of two parts: a roller conveyor line and a pallet unloading component, and is used for conveying pallets and buffering operations.

[0009] The flipping and unloading mechanism includes a pallet pushing mechanism, a flipping mechanism, and a pallet discharging mechanism, which are used to flip the pallet and unload the material.

[0010] Preferably, the first and second blocking pins of the material cart rotation mechanism are driven by a cylinder to be inserted into the straight guide groove on the top of the material cart, and the clamping pulleys are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the top crossbeam of the material cart to prevent the material cart from tilting due to the shift of the center of gravity of unloading on one side.

[0011] Preferably, the X-axis drive servo controls the horizontal movement of the fork, and the Y-axis drive servo controls the vertical lifting of the fork. The pneumatic gripper holds the fork to complete the gripping and releasing of the pallet, realizing alternating pallet retrieval.

[0012] Preferably, the unloading component includes a fork buffer mechanism and an unloading mechanism, wherein the fork buffer mechanism consists of a spare fork, a stop block, a rodless cylinder, a bushing structure support, and a sensor, and is used to alternately support the pallet;

[0013] The unloading mechanism consists of a structural support, a servo-driven synchronous belt transmission mechanism, and a guide rail sensor. The unloading mechanism unloads material in layers through the synchronous belt transmission mechanism, and the fork buffer mechanism is installed on the structural support as a whole.

[0014] Preferably, in the tilting unloading mechanism:

[0015] The pallet pushing mechanism includes a rodless cylinder, a push rod, a telescopic cylinder mounted on the push rod, and a blocking cylinder. Before the pallet containing freeze-dried material, which is transferred from the two-axis pallet picking mechanism, arrives at the pallet pushing mechanism, it is blocked by the blocking cylinder to prevent the pallet from congesting and jamming. The pallet pushing mechanism pushes the pallet containing the material into the flipping box of the flipping mechanism.

[0016] The flipping mechanism is used for flipping the tray. The flipping mechanism includes four flipping boxes, a vacuum suction cup mechanism and a rotating shaft. The vacuum suction cup mechanism is installed on the flipping boxes, and the four flipping boxes are installed around the rotating shaft. The rotating shaft is driven to rotate by a servo motor.

[0017] The tray ejection mechanism is used to remove the tray from the flip box onto the roller conveyor line. The tray ejection mechanism includes a rodless cylinder and a tray-retrieving vacuum suction cup mechanism.

[0018] Preferably, the vacuum suction cup mechanism uses a cylinder to drive a push plate to generate vibration, causing the material to detach from the tray.

[0019] Preferably, the tilting unloading mechanism further includes:

[0020] The hopper located below the tilting unloading mechanism is used to collect materials falling from the tilting box;

[0021] The bottom of the hopper is connected to a PU belt conveyor line, and the freeze-dried material is transported away by the PU belt conveyor line below the hopper.

[0022] Preferably, the roller conveyor line is equipped with a variable frequency motor to adjust the conveying speed according to the front-end requirements.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are:

[0024] 1. Significantly improve unloading efficiency: Through the alternating operation of the two-axis tray-retrieving mechanism and the coordinated operation of the material cart rotation mechanism, the unloading time of a single cart is reduced from 25-35 minutes in traditional manual operation to 13 minutes, which more than doubles the efficiency and effectively solves the production capacity bottleneck of the freeze-drying workshop.

[0025] 2. Significantly reduce labor costs: Fully automated operation replaces manual handling, requiring only one person to operate the conveyor cart, greatly reducing labor input compared to the traditional 6-person operation mode, while avoiding the risk of operational errors caused by fatigue.

[0026] 3. Enhance safety in production: The automated pallet gripping and flipping design completely eliminates the safety hazards of manual high-altitude pallet retrieval and pedal operation, avoids accidents such as material spillage and pallet slippage, and reduces the probability of work-related injuries.

[0027] 4. Protect materials and equipment safety: The V-shaped hopper and anti-collision silicone sleeve design prevents material from splashing and the tray from being deformed by collisions when the material is poured. The vacuum suction cup combined with the vibration unloading technology ensures that the material is completely unloaded and extends the service life of the tray.

[0028] 5. Achieve intelligent control throughout the entire process: The integrated application of servo motor drive, sensor monitoring and variable frequency speed regulation technology enables precise connection of pallet transfer, unloading and cleaning processes. The conveying speed can be dynamically adjusted according to the production cycle of the front end to adapt to the needs of flexible production.

[0029] 6. Reduce material transfer steps: After unloading by tipping, the material is directly connected to the washing machine via a roller conveyor line, eliminating the traditional manual secondary transfer steps, reducing the risk of material contamination, and improving production continuity. Attached Figure Description

[0030] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall front view of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 This is a top view of the structure of this utility model;

[0032] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the material cart rotation mechanism of this utility model;

[0033] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the cooperation between the material cart rotation mechanism and the two-axis plate-retrieving mechanism of this utility model;

[0034] Figure 5This is a schematic diagram showing the connection between the first blocking pin, the second blocking pin, and the pressure pulley of this utility model;

[0035] Figure 6 This is a side view of the material cart rotating mechanism and the two-axis plate-retrieving mechanism of this utility model.

[0036] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the roller conveyor mechanism of this utility model;

[0037] Figure 8 This is a top view of the roller conveyor mechanism of this utility model;

[0038] Figure 9 This is a front view schematic diagram of the cooperation and connection of the pallet pushing mechanism, the tilting mechanism and the pallet discharging mechanism in the tilting unloading mechanism of this utility model;

[0039] Figure 10 This is a top view of the tray pushing mechanism, the tilting mechanism and the tray discharge mechanism in the tilting unloading mechanism of this utility model.

[0040] In the diagram: 1. Material cart rotation mechanism; 11. First blocking pin; 12. Second blocking pin; 13. Pressure pulley; 2. Two-axis tray removal mechanism; 21. Base; 22. X-axis drive servo; 23. Y-axis drive servo; 24. Fork; 25. Pneumatic gripper; 3. Roller conveyor mechanism; 31. Roller conveyor line; 32. Tray unloading component; 321. Fork buffer mechanism; 3211. Spare fork; 3212. Stop block; 3213. Rodless cylinder one; 321 4. Bushing structure support; 322. Unloading mechanism; 3221. Structural support; 3222. Synchronous belt drive mechanism; 4. Tilting unloading mechanism; 5. Pallet pushing mechanism; 51. Rodless cylinder II; 52. Push rod; 53. Telescopic cylinder; 54. Blocking cylinder; 6. Tilting mechanism; 61. Tilting box; 62. Vacuum suction cup mechanism; 63. Rotating shaft; 7. Pallet ejection mechanism; 71. Rodless cylinder III; 72. Pallet retrieval vacuum suction cup mechanism; 8. PU belt conveyor line. Detailed Implementation

[0041] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this utility model clearer, the present utility model will be further described in detail below through embodiments and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present utility model and are not intended to limit the present utility model.

[0042] The following reference Figures 1-10 This application describes an embodiment of an apparatus for automatically picking up and unloading freeze-dried material trays.

[0043] like Figure 1-2As shown, an automatic tray-retrieving and unloading device for freeze-dried material trays includes a material cart rotation mechanism 1, a two-shaft tray-retrieving mechanism 2, a roller conveying mechanism 3, and a tilting unloading mechanism 4.

[0044] like Figure 3-5 As shown, the material cart rotation mechanism 1 includes a first blocking pin 11, a second blocking pin 12, clamping pulleys 13, and sensors. After the material cart enters the middle position of the material cart rotation mechanism 1 along the guide rail, the middle sensor detects the material cart. The second blocking pin 12 falls under the action of the cylinder, and the pin enters the straight guide groove on one side of the top of the material cart. After reaching the position, the first blocking pin 11 falls and enters the straight guide groove on the other side of the top of the material cart. The material cart is locked in the rotation mechanism. At the same time, the four clamping pulleys 13 on both sides clamp the top crossbeam of the material cart to prevent the material cart from tilting due to the shift of the center of gravity of unloading on one side.

[0045] like Figure 4 and Figure 6 As shown, the two-axis pallet-grabbing mechanism 2 includes a base 21, an X-axis drive servo 22, a Y-axis drive servo 23, a fork 24, a pneumatic gripper 25, and a sensor, used to alternately grab pallets in the material cart and transfer them to the roller conveyor mechanism 3;

[0046] like Figure 7-8 As shown, the roller conveyor mechanism 3 consists of two parts: the roller conveyor line 31 and the unloading component 32, and is used for conveying pallets and buffering operations.

[0047] like Figure 9-10 As shown, the flipping and unloading mechanism 4 includes a pallet pushing mechanism 5, a flipping mechanism 6, and a pallet unloading mechanism 7, which are used to flip the pallet and unload the material.

[0048] Furthermore, the first blocking pin 11 and the second blocking pin 12 of the material cart rotation mechanism 1 are driven by a cylinder to be inserted into the straight guide groove on the top of the material cart, and the pressing pulleys 13 are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the top crossbeam of the material cart to prevent the material cart from tilting due to the shift of the center of gravity of unloading on one side.

[0049] Furthermore, the X-axis drive servo 22 of the two-axis pallet-grabbing mechanism 2 controls the horizontal movement of the fork 24, the Y-axis drive servo 23 controls the vertical lifting of the fork 24, and the pneumatic gripper 25 clamps the fork 24 to complete the pallet grabbing and releasing, realizing alternating pallet grabbing.

[0050] Furthermore, the unloading component 32 includes a fork buffer mechanism 321 and an unloading mechanism 322. The fork buffer mechanism 321 consists of a spare fork 3211, a stop block 3212, a rodless cylinder 3213, a bushing structure support 3214, and a sensor, and is used to alternately receive pallets.

[0051] The unloading mechanism 322 consists of a structural support 3221, a servo-driven synchronous belt transmission mechanism 3222, and a guide rail sensor. The unloading mechanism 322 unloads material in layers through the synchronous belt transmission mechanism 3222, and the fork buffer mechanism 321 is installed on the structural support 3221.

[0052] In a further embodiment, in the tilting and unloading mechanism 4: the pallet pushing mechanism 5 includes a rodless cylinder 51, a push rod 52, a telescopic cylinder 53 mounted on the push rod 52, and a blocking cylinder 54. Before the pallet containing freeze-dried material transferred from the two-axis pallet picking mechanism 2 by the roller conveyor 31 reaches the pallet pushing mechanism 5, it is blocked by the blocking cylinder 54 to prevent the pallet from congesting and jamming. The pallet pushing mechanism 5 pushes the pallet containing the material into the tilting box 61 of the tilting mechanism 6.

[0053] The flipping mechanism 6 is used for flipping the tray. The flipping mechanism 6 includes four flipping boxes 61, a vacuum suction cup mechanism 62, and a rotating shaft 63. The vacuum suction cup mechanism 62 is installed on the flipping box 61, and the four flipping boxes 61 are installed around the rotating shaft 63. The rotating shaft 63 is driven to rotate by a servo motor.

[0054] The tray ejection mechanism 7 is used to remove the tray from the flip box 61 onto the roller conveyor line 31. The tray ejection mechanism 7 includes a rodless cylinder 71 and a tray removal vacuum suction cup mechanism 72.

[0055] In a further embodiment, the vacuum suction cup mechanism 62 drives the push plate to vibrate via a cylinder, causing the material to detach from the tray.

[0056] In a further embodiment, the tilting unloading mechanism 4 further includes a collection hopper located below the tilting unloading mechanism 4 for collecting materials falling from the tilting box 61.

[0057] The bottom of the hopper is connected to a PU belt conveyor line 8, and the freeze-dried material is transported away by the PU belt conveyor line 8 below the hopper.

[0058] In a further embodiment, the roller conveyor line 31 is equipped with a variable frequency motor to adjust the conveying speed according to the front-end requirements.

[0059] The specific working process of an automatic tray-removing and unloading device for freeze-dried materials according to this application will be described in conjunction with the above embodiments:

[0060] 1. Material cart fixing and rotation:

[0061] Step 1: After the material cart enters the device along the guide rail, the central sensor detects that the cart body is in place. The first blocking pin 11 and the second blocking pin 12 are driven by the cylinder to respectively engage with the straight guide grooves on both sides of the top of the material cart, fixing the position of the cart body.

[0062] Step 2: The four clamping pulleys on both sides 13 clamp the top crossbeam of the material cart to prevent tilting due to the shift of the center of gravity during unloading.

[0063] Step 3: Start the rotating mechanism to rotate the material cart 180° so that the other pallet is aligned with the pallet unloading station, realizing alternating unloading on both sides.

[0064] 2. Pallet gripping and conveying:

[0065] Step 4: The X-axis drive servo 22 of the two-axis pallet picking mechanism 2 pushes the pneumatic gripper 25 to move along the X-axis to directly under the pallet, and the Y-axis drive servo 23 lifts the fork 24 to lift the pallet and remove it from the trolley.

[0066] Step 5: The pallet-taking mechanism carries the pallet along the X-axis to above the roller conveyor 31, and the pneumatic gripper 25 releases the fork 24, allowing the pallet to fall onto the roller conveyor 31.

[0067] Step 6: The spare fork 3211 is supported by the stop block 3212, and the rodless cylinder 3213 drives the fork to reset, ready for the next round of pallet retrieval.

[0068] 3. Material tipping and pallet flipping

[0069] Step 7: After the pallet is transported to the unloading area of ​​the tilting unloading mechanism 4, the sensor triggers the tilting box 61 to rotate 90° around the rotating shaft 63, so that the pallet is tilted.

[0070] Step 8: The vacuum suction cup mechanism 62 adsorbs the back of the tray, and the vibration device is started simultaneously. The cylinder push plate drives the suction cup to reciprocate, shaking the material in the tray to the collection hopper.

[0071] Step 9: The flip box 61 continues to rotate 90° to 180°, the vacuum suction cup releases the tray, and the rodless cylinder 71 of the tray ejection mechanism 7 pulls the flipped tray to the roller conveyor line.

[0072] 4. Material output and pallet recycling:

[0073] Step 10: The material falls through the V-shaped opening of the collecting hopper into the PU belt conveyor line 8 below, and is conveyed to the next process such as packaging.

[0074] Step 11: The empty pallets after being flipped are transported to the inlet of the washing machine via a roller conveyor line. After washing, they are transferred to the freeze-drying workshop for reuse by manual labor or a robotic arm.

[0075] 5. Intelligent collaborative control:

[0076] Throughout the process, sensors monitor the material cart position, pallet status, and equipment operating parameters. The actions of the servo motors and cylinders are precisely controlled by a PLC program to achieve the following:

[0077] Synchronous linkage between the rotation of the material cart and the action of picking up the tray;

[0078] The timing of the tray flipping angle and the vibration unloading is matched;

[0079] Adaptive adjustment of conveyor line speed and front-end unloading rhythm.

[0080] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0081] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementations of this utility model, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of this utility model patent. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this utility model, and these all fall within the protection scope of this utility model. Therefore, the protection scope of this utility model patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A device for automatically unloading and discharging freeze-dried material trays, characterized in that: It includes a material cart rotation mechanism (1), a two-axis plate-retrieving mechanism (2), a roller conveying mechanism (3), and a tipping unloading mechanism (4); The material cart rotation mechanism (1) includes a first blocking pin (11), a second blocking pin (12), a pressure pulley (13), and a sensor, used to lock the material cart and drive it to rotate 180°; The two-axis pallet-grabbing mechanism (2) includes a base (21), an X-axis drive servo (22), a Y-axis drive servo (23), a fork (24), a pneumatic gripper (25), and a sensor, used to alternately grab pallets in the material cart and transfer them to the roller conveyor mechanism (3). The roller conveyor mechanism (3) consists of two parts: a roller conveyor line (31) and a pallet unloading component (32), and is used for conveying pallets and buffering operations; The flipping and unloading mechanism (4) includes a pallet pushing mechanism (5), a flipping mechanism (6) and a pallet unloading mechanism (7), which are used to flip the pallet and unload the material.

2. The device for automatically unloading and discharging freeze-dried material trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first blocking pin (11) and the second blocking pin (12) of the material cart rotation mechanism (1) are driven by a cylinder to insert into the straight guide groove on the top of the material cart. The pressing pulleys (13) are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the top beam of the material cart to prevent the material cart from tilting due to the shift of the center of gravity of unloading on one side.

3. The device for automatically unloading and discharging freeze-dried material trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The X-axis drive servo (22) of the two-axis pallet-grabbing mechanism (2) controls the fork (24) to move horizontally, and the Y-axis drive servo (23) controls the fork (24) to rise and fall vertically. The pneumatic gripper (25) holds the fork (24) to complete the pallet grabbing and release, realizing alternating pallet grabbing.

4. The device for automatically unloading and discharging freeze-dried material trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The unloading component (32) includes a fork buffer mechanism (321) and an unloading mechanism (322). The fork buffer mechanism (321) consists of a spare fork (3211), a stop block (3212), a rodless cylinder (3213), a bushing structure support (3214), and a sensor, and is used to alternately receive pallets. The unloading mechanism (322) consists of a structural support (3221), a servo-driven synchronous belt transmission mechanism (3222), and a guide rail sensor. The unloading mechanism (322) unloads material in layers through the synchronous belt transmission mechanism (3222). The fork buffer mechanism (321) is installed on the structural support (3221).

5. The device for automatically unloading and discharging freeze-dried material trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the tipping unloading mechanism (4): The pallet pushing mechanism (5) includes a rodless cylinder (51), a push rod (52), a telescopic cylinder (53) mounted on the push rod (52), and a blocking cylinder (54). Before the pallet containing freeze-dried material transferred from the two-axis pallet taking mechanism (2) by the roller conveyor (31) reaches the pallet pushing mechanism (5), it is blocked by the blocking cylinder (54) to prevent the pallet from being blocked. The pallet pushing mechanism (5) pushes the pallet containing the material into the flipping box (61) of the flipping mechanism (6). The flipping mechanism (6) is used for flipping the tray. The flipping mechanism (6) includes four flipping boxes (61), a vacuum suction cup mechanism (62), and a rotating shaft (63). The vacuum suction cup mechanism (62) is installed on the flipping box (61), and the four flipping boxes (61) are installed around the rotating shaft (63). The rotating shaft (63) is driven to rotate by a servo motor. The tray ejection mechanism (7) is used to remove the tray from the flip box (61) onto the roller conveyor line (31). The tray ejection mechanism (7) includes a rodless cylinder (71) and a tray removal vacuum suction cup mechanism (72).

6. The device for automatically unloading and discharging freeze-dried material trays according to claim 5, characterized in that: The vacuum suction cup mechanism (62) generates vibration by driving the push plate with a cylinder, causing the material to detach from the tray.

7. The device for automatically unloading and discharging freeze-dried material trays according to claim 5, characterized in that: The tipping unloading mechanism (4) also includes: The hopper located below the tilting unloading mechanism (4) is used to collect the material falling from the tilting box (61); The bottom of the hopper is connected to a PU belt conveyor (8), and the freeze-dried material is transported away by the PU belt conveyor (8) below the hopper.

8. The device for automatically unloading and discharging freeze-dried material trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The roller conveyor line (31) is equipped with a variable frequency motor to adjust the conveying speed according to the front-end requirements.

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