An automated feeding mechanism

Abstract

This utility model discloses an automated feeding mechanism, relating to the field of factory assembly equipment, including a workbench and a support device. A moving part is provided on the workbench, and a clamping device is provided on the moving part. An adsorption device is provided on the clamping device. The support device is located on the workbench, and materials are stacked on it. The clamping device clamps the materials and the adsorption device adsorbs the materials. The clamping device can clamp and separate multiple materials, and the clamping device and adsorption device can adsorb and pick up a single material, avoiding the picking up of multiple materials.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of factory assembly equipment, and in particular to an automated feeding mechanism. Background Technology

[0002] In the production and assembly process of CDC shock absorbers, the control valve, as a key component for controlling the oil flow rate, has an internal skeleton structure that directly affects product performance. This skeleton structure is usually designed in a disc shape, and to meet the precision control requirements of the shock absorber, its thickness is strictly limited to an ultra-thin range of 0.15mm to 0.25mm.

[0003] However, this ultra-thin skeleton structure presents numerous challenges for material loading during production and assembly. Currently, there are two main methods for loading such ultra-thin materials in the industry: one relies on manual operation. Due to the extremely thin thickness and fragile texture of the material, even slight force during manual handling can cause deformation or damage, and only a small amount of material can be processed at a time, resulting in low efficiency. At the same time, ultra-thin materials are prone to sticking together due to static electricity, adsorption, and other factors, making it difficult for manual separation of individual sheets. This easily leads to situations where too many or too few sheets are picked up, seriously affecting the accuracy and consistency of subsequent assembly.

[0004] Secondly, traditional automated feeding equipment is used. This type of equipment is mostly designed for materials of standard thickness (e.g., 1mm or more), and the clamping cavity size and clamping force of the gripping device are difficult to adapt to the characteristics of ultra-thin frames. If the clamping force is too large, it will directly crush the material; if the clamping force is too small, it cannot be stably gripped, causing the material to fall off during transport. Furthermore, traditional equipment usually lacks specific designs for addressing the adhesion problem of ultra-thin materials. When using negative pressure adsorption, multiple sheets are easily adsorbed simultaneously, and relying solely on mechanical structures is insufficient to achieve precise peeling, failing to meet the automated feeding requirements for single sheets.

[0005] Therefore, in order to address the challenge of feeding the ultra-thin skeleton structure in the CDC shock absorber control valve, there is an urgent need for an automated feeding mechanism that can adapt to its ultra-thin characteristics, achieve stable gripping, precise separation, and efficient transfer, in order to solve the problems of low efficiency and high damage rate of manual operation and poor compatibility with traditional automated equipment, thereby improving the level of production automation and product assembly quality. Utility Model Content

[0006] This utility model provides an automated feeding mechanism, comprising:

[0007] A workbench, on which a moving part is provided, a clamping device is provided on the moving part, and an adsorption device is provided on the clamping device;

[0008] A support device is provided on the workbench, on which materials are stacked. A clamping device clamps the materials and adsorbs them through an adsorption device. The clamping device can clamp and separate multiple materials.

[0009] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, the clamping device is disposed at one end of the moving member, the moving member drives the clamping device to move, the clamping device includes a first clamping part and a second clamping part, a clamping cavity is formed between the first clamping part and the second clamping part, the width of the clamping cavity is equal to the width of the material, and the thickness of the clamping cavity is equal to the thickness of the material, so that the material is located in the clamping cavity and is clamped by the first clamping part and the second clamping part.

[0010] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, the first clamping part is provided with a first limiting member, and the second clamping part is provided with a second limiting member. The first limiting member and the second limiting member cooperate with the first clamping part and the second clamping part to limit the material.

[0011] A groove is formed between the first limiting member and the second limiting member, and the adsorption device is located in the groove.

[0012] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, the adsorption device includes:

[0013] An abutment piece is disposed within the slide groove, and the abutment piece moves linearly within the slide groove along the direction in which the slide groove is disposed;

[0014] A negative pressure device is provided on the moving part or the worktable. The negative pressure device includes a negative pressure nozzle, which is connected to the abutment piece. The negative pressure nozzle passes through the abutment piece to generate a negative pressure space in the clamping cavity. The material is adsorbed onto the first limiting member and the second limiting member through the negative pressure nozzle.

[0015] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, a telescopic device is provided on one side of the adsorption device, the fixed end of the telescopic device is located at one end of the moving part, the telescopic device is arranged along the direction of the slide groove, the output end of the telescopic device is connected to the abutment piece, and the telescopic device drives the abutment piece to move linearly along the position of the slide groove.

[0016] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, the first clamping part and the second clamping part are provided with abutting blocks on the side away from the support device. When the telescopic device drives the multiple materials on the abutting piece to move, the abutting blocks abut against the materials.

[0017] The distance between the abutment block and the first and second limiting members is equal to the thickness of the material.

[0018] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, the supporting device includes:

[0019] A turntable, on which multiple support columns are provided, and the material is placed on the support columns to stack the material;

[0020] A drive device is provided on the worktable, and the drive device drives the turntable to rotate.

[0021] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, the moving component includes:

[0022] A vertical linear drive component, wherein a fixing component is provided on the vertical linear drive component, and the vertical linear drive component drives the fixing component to move vertically;

[0023] A horizontal X-axis drive is mounted on the fixed member, and the horizontal X-axis drive moves on the fixed member along the horizontal X-axis direction;

[0024] A horizontal Y-axis drive is disposed on the horizontal X-axis drive, and the horizontal Y-axis drive moves along the Y-axis direction in the horizontal direction on the horizontal X-axis drive.

[0025] The clamping device is provided at the end of the horizontal Y-axis drive component.

[0026] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, the clamping device is rotatably connected to the end of the horizontal Y-axis drive component.

[0027] Preferably, in this embodiment of the application, pressure sensors are provided on the first limiting member and the second limiting member at positions corresponding to the clamping cavity. When the clamping cavity clamps the material, the pressure sensors receive the pressure magnitude of the first limiting member and the second limiting member on the material.

[0028] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows:

[0029] 1. Compared to manual material loading, this mechanism achieves unmanned gripping and transfer through automated driving of moving parts (vertical, X-axis, and Y-axis three-way drive and rotation adjustment), completely avoiding deformation and damage caused by manual contact with ultra-thin materials, and reducing material loss rate. Simultaneously, the automated continuous operation mode significantly improves the efficiency of a single loading operation and enables continuous processing of batches of materials, solving the problems of low throughput and low efficiency associated with manual handling. Furthermore, through precise control of the mechanical structure, it effectively avoids over- or under-loading caused by adhesion during manual operation, ensuring the accuracy and consistency of subsequent assembly processes and improving the overall quality stability of the product.

[0030] 2. To address the issue of poor adaptability of traditional automated equipment to ultra-thin materials, this mechanism ensures stable gripping through multiple design features: the width and thickness of the gripping cavity of the clamping device are strictly matched to the material size, and with the auxiliary limiting of the first and second limiting components, a precise wrapping of the ultra-thin skeleton is formed; the pressure sensor monitors the clamping force in real time and dynamically adjusts the force of the clamping device, avoiding both excessive clamping force that crushes the material and insufficient clamping force that causes the material to fall off, perfectly adapting to the fragile characteristics of ultra-thin materials of 0.15mm to 0.25mm.

[0031] 3. To address the issue of ultra-thin materials easily sticking together due to static electricity and adsorption, the mechanism utilizes a coordinated design of a telescopic device and abutment block to achieve precise separation of multiple materials: When multiple materials are picked up simultaneously during negative pressure adsorption, the abutment block precisely blocks the second material from the top. By utilizing the dimensional alignment where the distance between the abutment block and the limiting component equals the thickness of a single material, the sticking materials are forcibly separated, ensuring that only a single material is picked up at a time. This design overcomes the shortcomings of traditional equipment that relies solely on negative pressure or mechanical clamping to solve the adhesion problem, significantly improving the accuracy of single-material picking. Attached Figure Description

[0032] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0033] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of an automated feeding mechanism provided by this utility model;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of the support device provided by this utility model;

[0035] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of the clamping device provided by this utility model Figure 1 ;

[0036] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of the clamping device provided by this utility model Figure 2 ;

[0037] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing the structure of the workbench, moving parts, and support device provided by this utility model.

[0038] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures:

[0039] 100. Workbench; 200. Moving part; 210. Vertical linear drive component; 211. Fixing component; 2111. Sliding groove; 220. Horizontal X-axis drive component; 230. Horizontal Y-axis drive component; 300. Clamping device; 310. First clamping part; 311. First limiting component; 320. Second clamping part; 321. Second limiting component; 330. Clamping cavity; 340. Sliding groove; 350. Abutment block; 360. Pressure sensor; 400. Support device; 410. Turntable; 411. Support column; 420. Drive device; 500. Adsorption device; 510. Abutment piece; 520. Negative pressure device; 521. Negative pressure nozzle; 600. Telescopic device; 700. Material. Detailed Implementation

[0040] The specific embodiments of this utility model are described in detail below, but it should be understood that the protection scope of this utility model is not limited to the specific embodiments.

[0041] like Figures 1 to 5 As shown in the figure, an automated feeding mechanism provided by this utility model includes a workbench 100, a moving part 200, and a support device 400. The moving part 200 and the support device 400 are arranged on the workbench 100. Multiple materials 700 are arranged on the support device 400 and stacked together on the support device 400. The materials 700 are clamped by the clamping device 300 on the moving part 200.

[0042] In the above, material 700 is set as a skeleton structure on the control valve in this application. The control valve is a valve that controls the flow rate of oil in the CDC shock absorber. The skeleton structure is a disc-shaped structure with an overall thickness of 0.15mm to 0.25mm. This thickness makes manual operation inconvenient.

[0043] To address the issue of errors caused by manual operation due to the aforementioned thickness, the ultra-thin skeleton is controlled by a moving component 200. The moving component 200 is equipped with three driving components: a vertical linear driving component 210, a horizontal X-axis driving component 220, and a horizontal Y-axis driving component 230. The fixed end of the vertical linear driving component 210 is mounted on the worktable 100, and a drive shaft is vertically mounted on the vertical linear driving component 210. A fixing component 211 is sleeved on the drive shaft, allowing the fixing component 211 to move vertically up and down in accordance with the drive shaft.

[0044] A sliding groove 2111 is provided horizontally on the fixing member 211. The sliding groove 2111 is located on the side of the fixing member 211 facing the support device 400. The horizontal X-axis drive member 220 is disposed in the sliding groove 2111 on the fixing member 211, so that the horizontal X-axis drive member 220 can move in the horizontal X-axis direction within the horizontally disposed sliding groove 2111.

[0045] A horizontal Y-axis drive 230 is provided on the horizontal X-axis drive 220. In this embodiment, the driving direction of the horizontal Y-axis drive 230 is perpendicular to the driving direction of the horizontal X-axis drive 220, and a clamping device 300 is provided at the end of the horizontal Y-axis drive 230, so that the clamping device 300 can move along the Y-axis direction in the horizontal direction on the horizontal X-axis drive 220 through the horizontal Y-axis drive 230.

[0046] In this embodiment, the horizontal X-axis drive 220 is configured as an electric slider, which moves horizontally within the sliding groove 2111; the horizontal Y-axis drive 230 is configured as a telescopic member to move the clamping device 300 in the horizontal direction.

[0047] Meanwhile, in this embodiment, one end of the horizontal Y-axis drive member 230 facing the clamping device 300 is rotatably connected to the clamping device 300, so that the clamping device 300 rotates on the horizontal Y-axis drive member 230, thereby improving the flexibility of movement of the clamping device 300.

[0048] In the above structure, the clamping device 300 on the moving part 200 mainly includes a first clamping part 310 and a second clamping part 320. The first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320 are arranged opposite to each other on the horizontal Y-axis drive member 230, so that a clamping cavity 330 is formed between the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320. In this application, the clamping cavity 330 is arranged in a long strip shape. The width of the clamping cavity 330 is equal to the width of the material 700. This width is the distance between the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320. This width can facilitate the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320 to clamp the material 700.

[0049] Meanwhile, since the thickness of the material 700 in this application, i.e. the thickness of the skeleton structure, is 0.15mm to 0.25mm, in order to effectively clamp a skeleton structure, the thickness of the clamping cavity 330 in this embodiment is equal to the thickness of the skeleton structure, so that the material 700 is located in the clamping cavity 330 and is clamped by the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320.

[0050] To further clamp the material 700, this embodiment of the application also provides a first limiting member 311 and a second limiting member 321. The first limiting member 311 is located above the first clamping part 310 and protrudes from the first clamping part 310, so that part of the first limiting member 311 is located above the clamping cavity 330. The second limiting member 321 is located above the second clamping part 320 and protrudes from the second clamping part 320, so that part of the second limiting member 321 is located above the clamping cavity 330. In this structure, the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321 can cooperate with the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320 to limit the material 700.

[0051] A groove 340 is formed between the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321. An adsorption device 500 is provided in the groove 340. The adsorption device 500 is mainly provided with an abutment piece 510. The abutment piece 510 is located in the groove 340, so that the abutment piece 510 moves linearly along the groove 340. Since the width of the groove 340 where the abutment piece 510 is located is smaller than the width of the clamping cavity 330, when the material 700 is located in the clamping cavity 330, the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321 abut against the upper surface of the material 700, so that the abutment piece 510 between the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321 can abut against the material 700. A negative pressure nozzle 521 is provided on the abutment piece 510. The negative pressure nozzle 521 passes through the upper and lower ends of the abutment piece 510 to adsorb the material 700, so as to facilitate the picking up of the material 700.

[0052] To effectively coordinate with the abutment piece 510 in contacting the material 700, pressure sensors 360 are provided on the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321 at positions corresponding to the clamping cavity 330 in this embodiment. When the clamping cavity 330 clamps the material 700, the pressure sensors 360 receive the pressure exerted by the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321 on the material 700.

[0053] The pressure sensor 360 monitors the clamping force of the clamping device 300 on the material 700 in real time, ensuring that the clamping force is neither too large to damage the material 700, nor too small to cause the material 700 to fall off or be unstable in the grip. When the pressure sensor 360 detects that the clamping force exceeds the preset range, it can promptly trigger an alarm or adjust the motion parameters of the clamping device 300 to maintain a stable clamping state.

[0054] In this embodiment, the negative pressure nozzle 521 is connected to a negative pressure device 520. The body of the negative pressure device 520 is set on the moving part 200 or the worktable 100. The negative pressure device 520 is a miniature vacuum machine. The miniature vacuum machine is connected to the negative pressure nozzle 521 through a pipe, so that the negative pressure nozzle 521 can form a negative pressure space below the abutment piece 510 through the miniature vacuum machine. The material 700 is adsorbed below the abutment piece 510 by the negative pressure action. Specifically, the material 700 is adsorbed in the clamping cavity 330 between the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321.

[0055] When the negative pressure is high, multiple pieces of material 700 may be adsorbed simultaneously, affecting the gripping of individual pieces of material 700. To avoid this phenomenon, this application includes a telescopic device 600 and an abutment block 350, specifically:

[0056] The telescopic device 600 is located on the side of the adsorption device 500 near the moving part 200. The telescopic device 600 is configured as an electric telescopic device or a hydraulic telescopic device. The telescopic device 600 is arranged along the direction of the slide groove 340. The fixed end of the telescopic device 600 is fixedly connected to the body of the clamping device 300. The output end of the telescopic device 600 is fixedly connected to the abutment piece 510, so that the abutment piece 510 moves linearly along the slide groove 340 by the drive of the telescopic device 600.

[0057] To facilitate the separation of the second material 700 from the first material 700, the abutment block 350 is positioned on the side of the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320 away from the support device 400, and the abutment block 350 is fixed below the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320. The abutment block 350 is fixedly connected to the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320, such that the distance between the abutment block 350 and the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321 is equal to the thickness of a single material 700. When the telescopic device 600 moves the multiple materials 700 on the abutment piece 510, the abutment block 350 abuts against the second material 700 from top to bottom, preventing the movement of the material 700, thus facilitating the separation of the first material 700 and the second material 700.

[0058] The workbench 100 is equipped with a support device 400, which includes a turntable 410 and a drive device 420. The turntable 410 is mounted on the workbench 100 and has multiple support columns 411. The material 700 is placed on the support columns 411 to achieve stacking of the material 700. The drive device 420 is connected to the turntable 410 and is used to drive the turntable 410 to rotate, thereby facilitating the clamping device 300 to clamp the material 700 located at different positions. In this embodiment, the drive device 420 can be a motor, and the output shaft of the motor is connected to the central shaft of the turntable 410 to drive the turntable 410 to rotate smoothly.

[0059] In this embodiment, firstly, the control valve skeleton structure (disc-shaped, 0.15mm to 0.25mm thick), which serves as the material 700, is fitted onto the support column 411 of the support device 400 to achieve the stacking of multiple materials 700. The drive device 420 (such as a motor) of the support device 400 can drive the turntable 410 to rotate so that the subsequent clamping device 300 can operate on the materials 700 at different positions.

[0060] Next, the moving part 200 begins to operate. The vertical linear drive 210 drives the fixed part 211 to move up and down in the vertical direction via the drive shaft, adjusting the height of the fixed part 211 so that the position of the horizontal X-axis drive 220 (electric slider) is adapted to the height of the material 700. The horizontal X-axis drive 220 moves along the X-axis direction within the sliding groove 2111 of the fixed part 211, driving the horizontal Y-axis drive 230 (telescopic part) closer to the X-axis position of the material 700. Subsequently, the horizontal Y-axis drive 230 extends, causing the end clamping device 300 to approach the material 700 along the Y-axis direction. The clamping device 300 can be adjusted in angle through rotational connection with the horizontal Y-axis drive 230, improving flexibility.

[0061] When the clamping device 300 reaches the material 700, the elongated clamping cavity 330 (with width and thickness adapted to the material 700) formed by the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320 is aligned with the material 700 to initially clamp it. At this time, the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321 above the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320 protrude above the clamping cavity 330 and abut against the upper surface of the material 700, cooperating with the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320 to limit the material 700. At the same time, the pressure sensor 360 on the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321 monitors the pressure on the material 700 in real time to ensure that the clamping force is within a suitable range and to prevent the material 700 from being damaged or falling off.

[0062] Then, the adsorption device 500 begins to operate. The telescopic device 600 drives the abutment piece 510 to move within the groove 340 formed by the first limiting member 311 and the second limiting member 321. Since the width of the groove 340 is smaller than the width of the clamping cavity 330, the abutment piece 510 can accurately abut against the material 700. The negative pressure nozzle 521 on the abutment piece 510 generates negative pressure through a connected miniature vacuum machine (negative pressure device 520), adsorbing the material 700 below the abutment piece 510 and firmly picking up the material 700.

[0063] If negative pressure adsorption causes multiple pieces of material 700 to be adsorbed simultaneously, when the telescopic device 600 moves the abutment piece 510 and the adsorbed material 700, the abutment block 350 below the first clamping part 310 and the second clamping part 320 will abut against the second material 700 from top to bottom, preventing it from moving, thereby separating the first material 700 from the second material 700, ensuring that only a single material 700 is grabbed.

[0064] Finally, the moving part 200, through the coordinated action of various driving components, transports the gripped single material 700 to the designated position, completing one loading process. The above steps can then be repeated for continuous loading.

[0065] The above-disclosed embodiments are only a few specific examples of the present utility model. However, the embodiments of the present utility model are not limited thereto. Any changes that can be conceived by those skilled in the art should fall within the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. An automated feeding mechanism, characterized in that, include: A workbench, on which a moving part is provided, a clamping device is provided on the moving part, and an adsorption device is provided on the clamping device; A support device is provided on the workbench, on which materials are stacked. A clamping device clamps the materials and adsorbs them through an adsorption device. The clamping device can clamp and separate multiple materials.

2. The automated feeding mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The clamping device is located at one end of the moving member. The moving member drives the clamping device to move. The clamping device includes a first clamping part and a second clamping part. A clamping cavity is formed between the first clamping part and the second clamping part. The width of the clamping cavity is equal to the width of the material, and the thickness of the clamping cavity is equal to the thickness of the material, so that the material is located in the clamping cavity and is clamped by the first clamping part and the second clamping part.

3. The automated feeding mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first clamping part is provided with a first limiting member, and the second clamping part is provided with a second limiting member. The first limiting member and the second limiting member cooperate with the first clamping part and the second clamping part to limit the material. A groove is formed between the first limiting member and the second limiting member, and the adsorption device is located in the groove.

4. The automated feeding mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that, The adsorption device includes: An abutment piece is disposed within the slide groove, and the abutment piece moves linearly within the slide groove along the direction in which the slide groove is disposed; A negative pressure device is provided on the moving part or the worktable. The negative pressure device includes a negative pressure nozzle, which is connected to the abutment piece. The negative pressure nozzle passes through the abutment piece to generate a negative pressure space in the clamping cavity. The material is adsorbed onto the first limiting member and the second limiting member through the negative pressure nozzle.

5. An automated feeding mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that, A telescopic device is provided on one side of the adsorption device. The fixed end of the telescopic device is located at one end of the moving part. The telescopic device is arranged along the direction of the slide groove. The output end of the telescopic device is connected to the abutment piece. The telescopic device drives the abutment piece to move linearly along the position of the slide groove.

6. An automated feeding mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first clamping part and the second clamping part are provided with abutting blocks on the side away from the support device. When the telescopic device drives the multiple materials on the abutting piece to move, the abutting blocks abut against the materials. The distance between the abutment block and the first and second limiting members is equal to the thickness of the material.

7. The automated feeding mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support device includes: A turntable, on which multiple support columns are provided, and the material is placed on the support columns to stack the material; A drive device is provided on the worktable, and the drive device drives the turntable to rotate.

8. An automated feeding mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The moving component includes: A vertical linear drive component, wherein a fixing component is provided on the vertical linear drive component, and the vertical linear drive component drives the fixing component to move vertically; A horizontal X-axis drive is mounted on the fixed member, and the horizontal X-axis drive moves on the fixed member along the horizontal X-axis direction; A horizontal Y-axis drive is disposed on the horizontal X-axis drive, and the horizontal Y-axis drive moves along the Y-axis direction in the horizontal direction on the horizontal X-axis drive. The clamping device is provided at the end of the horizontal Y-axis drive component.

9. An automated feeding mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that, The clamping device is rotatably connected to the end of the horizontal Y-axis drive component.

10. An automated feeding mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that, Pressure sensors are provided on the first limiting member and the second limiting member at positions corresponding to the clamping cavity. When the clamping cavity clamps the material, the pressure sensors receive the pressure magnitude of the first limiting member and the second limiting member on the material.

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