An automated vision-based unpacking and palletizing equipment for silicon rods

Abstract

This utility model discloses an automatic vision unpacking and palletizing equipment for silicon rods, belonging to the technical field of semiconductor silicon rod processing equipment. It includes a roller conveyor line, a pallet of silicon rods, a picking robot, a 3D vision camera, a camera bracket, a composite picking gripper mechanism, a pallet picking gripper mechanism, a module bracket, a dual-axis module, a pallet palletizing area, a partition storage area, silicon rod tooling, and a silicon rod conveyor line. The module bracket is equipped with a dual-axis module for driving the pallet picking gripper mechanism to move horizontally and vertically. The pallet picking gripper mechanism is used for picking up and palletizing empty pallets. The partition storage area is located on one side of the roller conveyor line and is used to store the cover plates and partitions removed during unpacking, for receiving the removed silicon rods and transferring them to subsequent processes. This utility model achieves the technical effects of automating unpacking and palletizing operations, providing stable and accurate picking, compatibility with multiple specifications of silicon rods, preventing partitions from being lifted during picking, and adapting to multiple pallet sizes.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the technical field of semiconductor silicon rod processing equipment, and in particular relates to an automatic vision unpacking and palletizing equipment for silicon rods. Background Technology

[0002] In the semiconductor silicon ingot production process, the silicon ingots packaged in pallets need to be unpacked, picked up, and transferred to subsequent processing fixtures. Traditional processes rely on manual labor: manually removing the top cover, manually moving the silicon ingots, and sorting the partitions and empty pallets. However, silicon ingots are heavy, fragile, and easily scratched, making manual operation labor-intensive, inefficient, and prone to damaging the silicon ingots during the picking and placing process. Manual positioning accuracy is poor and cannot be adapted to the continuous operation of automated production lines. At the same time, the compatibility of picking up silicon ingots of different specifications is poor, and the middle partition is easily lifted when picking up the ingots. There is a lack of uniform matching tools for stacking pallets of different sizes, resulting in chaotic process connections and making it difficult to meet the unmanned and high-precision requirements of large-scale production. Utility Model Content

[0003] To address the problems existing in the prior art, this utility model provides an automatic vision unpacking and palletizing equipment for silicon rods. It has the advantages of automating unpacking and palletizing operations, stable and accurate material handling, compatibility with multiple specifications of silicon rods, prevention of partitions being lifted during material handling, and adaptability to multiple sizes of pallets. It solves the problems of low efficiency, high labor intensity, easy damage to silicon rods, poor compatibility with multiple specifications, easy lifting of partitions, and poor pallet adaptability caused by manual unpacking and palletizing of silicon rods in the prior art.

[0004] This utility model is implemented as follows: an automatic vision unpacking and palletizing device for silicon rods includes a roller conveyor line, a pallet of silicon rods, a picking robot, a 3D vision camera, a camera bracket, a composite picking gripper mechanism, a pallet picking gripper mechanism, a module bracket, a dual-axis module, a pallet palletizing area, a partition storage area, silicon rod tooling, and a silicon rod conveyor line. The pallet of silicon rods is placed on the roller conveyor line and flows along it to the unpacking station. The camera bracket is fixed to the side wall of the roller conveyor line. The 3D vision camera is mounted on the camera bracket and is used to collect the coordinate information of the pallet of silicon rods and transmit it to the picking robot. The end effector of the picking robot is equipped with a composite picking gripper mechanism for picking up the cover plates, silicon rods, and partitions from a whole pallet of silicon rods. The module support is mounted above the pallet stacking area. The module support is equipped with a dual-axis module for driving the pallet picking gripper mechanism to move horizontally and vertically. The pallet picking gripper mechanism is used for picking up and stacking empty pallets. The partition storage area is located on one side of the roller conveyor line for storing the cover plates and partitions removed during the unpacking process. The silicon rod tooling is placed on the silicon rod conveyor line to receive the removed silicon rods and transfer them to subsequent processes.

[0005] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, the composite material handling gripper mechanism includes a flange, a gripper fixing plate, a servo motor, a moving clamping plate, a material ejection cylinder, a clamping plate, a floating bracket, a rubber suction cup, a sponge suction cup, a cylinder fixing plate, and a lifting cylinder.

[0006] This setup integrates suction, clamping, and ejection modules, providing a unified modular actuator for material handling operations of cover plates, silicon rods, and partitions. It enables integrated control of multi-material handling actions, simplifying the equipment structure while improving material handling efficiency.

[0007] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, the pallet picking gripper mechanism includes a second gripper fixing plate, a gripper fixing frame, a guide rail, a gripper hook plate, and a clamping cylinder.

[0008] This design enables a modular execution structure for pallet gripping, with each component working together to achieve stable gripping and stacking of empty pallets, facilitating the operation of pallets of different sizes.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the flange is connected to the end of the material handling robot, the first gripper fixing plate is fixed below the flange, the servo motor is installed on one side of the first gripper fixing plate and its output end is connected to the movable clamping plate, and the clamping plate is fixed to the inner side of the movable clamping plate for clamping both ends of the silicon rod.

[0010] With this setup, the servo motor can easily drive the moving clamping plate to move, thereby driving the clamping plate to stably clamp both ends of the silicon rod. This not only ensures the clamping force to avoid damage to the silicon rod, but also adapts to silicon rods of different lengths, improving the accuracy and quality of clamping.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of this utility model, the cylinder fixing plate is mounted on the gripper fixing plate, the lifting cylinder is mounted on the cylinder fixing plate and its output end is connected to the rubber suction cup, the sponge suction cup is mounted below the floating bracket, the sponge suction cup adopts a small module combination structure, and the material ejection cylinder is mounted on the outside of the moving clamping plate for pushing the bottom partition.

[0012] With this setup, the lifting cylinder drives the rubber suction cup to rise and fall, enabling the suction of the cover plate and partition; the floating bracket can adaptively adjust the fit between the sponge suction cup and the top surface of the silicon rod, ensuring the stability of the silicon rod suction; the sponge suction cup can be combined in small modules to pick up silicon rods of various specifications, such as widths of 182-230mm and half rod specifications, improving material picking compatibility; the ejection cylinder can push the bottom partition when picking up the silicon rod to prevent the partition from being lifted up, ensuring the stability of the material picking process.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the second gripper fixing plate is connected to the end of the dual-axis module, the gripper fixing frame is installed below the second gripper fixing plate, the guide rail is installed on the inner side of the gripper fixing frame, and the gripper hook plate is slidably connected to the guide rail.

[0014] This design allows the gripper hook plate to slide stably along the guide rail, improving the accuracy and stability when gripping empty pallets. It also expands the gripper's adaptability range, providing a spatial adjustment basis for gripping pallets of different sizes.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the clamping cylinder is mounted on the gripper fixing frame and its output end is connected to the gripper hook plate, which is used to drive the gripper hook plate to clamp the empty pallet.

[0016] With this setup, the clamping cylinder can quickly drive the gripper hook plate to complete the clamping / releasing action, which can stably hold empty pallets of different sizes and improve the efficiency and stability of empty pallet stacking.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: High degree of automation: It can replace manual labor to complete the entire process of unpacking, picking up, collecting partitions, and stacking empty pallets of silicon rods, reducing labor intensity and improving work efficiency, and adapting to the continuous operation requirements of automated production lines. Stable and precise material handling: The silicon rod is precisely positioned by a 3D vision camera, combined with a dual material handling method of sponge suction cup picking up and gripper clamping, and the adaptive fitting of the floating bracket to avoid damage to the silicon rod during the picking and placing process, effectively improving material handling accuracy. Multi-specification compatibility: The small modular structure of the sponge suction cup facilitates the adaptation of silicon rods of different specifications, and the pallet picking gripper is compatible with empty pallets of different sizes, improving the equipment's adaptability to materials of multiple specifications. Smooth process transition: The material return cylinder effectively prevents the partition from being lifted when picking up silicon rods. The partition storage area and pallet stacking area store materials neatly. It supports docking with AG to achieve automatic transfer, ensuring smooth process transition. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure provided in an embodiment of the present utility model; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the composite material handling gripper mechanism provided in this embodiment of the utility model; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the pallet picking gripper mechanism provided in this embodiment of the utility model.

[0019] In the diagram: 1. Roller conveyor line; 2. Palletized silicon rods; 3. Picking robot; 4. 3D vision camera; 5. Camera bracket; 6. Composite picking gripper mechanism; 7. Pallet picking gripper mechanism; 8. Module bracket; 9. Dual-axis module; 10. Pallet stacking area; 11. Partition storage area; 12. Silicon rod tooling; 13. Silicon rod conveyor line; 601. Flange; 602. Gripper fixing plate one; 603. Servo motor; 604. Moving clamp; 605. Unloading cylinder; 606. Clamping plate; 607. Floating bracket; 608. Rubber suction cup; 609. Sponge suction cup; 610. Cylinder fixing plate; 611. Lifting cylinder; 701. Gripper fixing plate two; 702. Gripper fixing frame; 703. Guide rail; 704. Gripper hook plate; 705. Clamping cylinder. Detailed Implementation

[0020] To further understand the utility model content, features and effects of this utility model, the following embodiments are provided, and detailed descriptions are given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0021] The structure of this utility model will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0022] refer to Figures 1 to 3 As shown in the figure, an automatic vision unpacking and palletizing device for silicon rods provided in this embodiment of the present invention includes a roller conveyor line 1, a pallet of silicon rods 2, a picking robot 3, a 3D vision camera 4, a camera bracket 5, a composite picking gripper mechanism 6, a pallet picking gripper mechanism 7, a module bracket 8, a dual-axis module 9, a pallet palletizing area 10, a partition storage area 11, silicon rod tooling 12, and a silicon rod conveyor line 13. The pallet of silicon rods 2 is placed on the roller conveyor line 1 and flows along it to the unpacking station. The camera bracket 5 is fixed to the side wall of the roller conveyor line 1. The 3D vision camera 4 is mounted on the camera bracket 5 and is used to collect the coordinate information of the pallet of silicon rods 2 and transmit it to the picking robot. The robot 3 is equipped with a composite picking gripper mechanism 6 at its end, which is used to pick up the cover plate, silicon rod and partition plate on the whole tray of silicon rods 2. The module support 8 is set above the pallet stacking area 10. The module support 8 is equipped with a dual-axis module 9 for driving the pallet picking gripper mechanism 7 to move horizontally and vertically. The pallet picking gripper mechanism 7 is used to pick up and stack empty pallets. The partition storage area 11 is set on one side of the roller conveyor line 1 for storing the cover plate and partition plate taken out during the unpacking process. The silicon rod tooling 12 is placed on the silicon rod conveyor line 13 for receiving the silicon rods taken out and transferring them to the subsequent process.

[0023] Specifically, the composite material handling gripper mechanism 6 includes a flange 601, a gripper fixing plate 602, a servo motor 603, a moving clamping plate 604, a material ejection cylinder 605, a clamping plate 606, a floating bracket 607, a rubber suction cup 608, a sponge suction cup 609, a cylinder fixing plate 610, and a lifting cylinder 611.

[0024] The above solution integrates suction, clamping, and ejection modules, providing a unified modular execution component for the material handling operations of cover plates, silicon rods, and partitions. This enables integrated control of multi-material handling actions, simplifying the equipment structure while improving material handling efficiency.

[0025] Specifically, the pallet picking gripper mechanism 7 includes a gripper fixing plate 701, a gripper fixing frame 702, a guide rail 703, a gripper hook plate 704, and a clamping cylinder 705.

[0026] The above scheme realizes a modular execution structure for pallet gripping. The components work together to achieve stable gripping and stacking of empty pallets, which facilitates the operation of pallets of different sizes.

[0027] Specifically, the flange 601 is connected to the end of the material handling robot 3, the gripper fixing plate 602 is fixed below the flange 601, the servo motor 603 is installed on one side of the gripper fixing plate 602 and its output end is connected to the moving clamping plate 604, and the clamping plate 606 is fixed inside the moving clamping plate 604 for clamping both ends of the silicon rod.

[0028] With the above solution, the servo motor 603 can easily drive the moving clamping plate 604 to move, thereby driving the clamping plate 606 to stably clamp both ends of the silicon rod. This not only ensures the clamping force to avoid damage to the silicon rod, but also adapts to silicon rods of different lengths, improving the accuracy and quality of clamping.

[0029] Specifically, the cylinder fixing plate 610 is installed on the gripper fixing plate 602, the lifting cylinder 611 is installed on the cylinder fixing plate 610 and its output end is connected to the rubber suction cup 608, the sponge suction cup 609 is installed below the floating bracket 607, the sponge suction cup 609 adopts a small module combination structure, and the material ejection cylinder 605 is installed on the outside of the moving clamping plate 604 for pushing the bottom partition.

[0030] Using the above scheme, the lifting cylinder 611 drives the rubber suction cup 608 to lift and lower, realizing the suction of the cover plate and partition; the floating bracket 607 can adaptively adjust the fit between the sponge suction cup 609 and the top surface of the silicon rod, ensuring the stability of the silicon rod suction; the sponge suction cup 609 can realize the suction of silicon rods of various specifications through the small module combination mode, such as width 182-230 and half rod specifications, improving the material handling compatibility; the ejection cylinder 605 can push the bottom partition when picking up the silicon rod to prevent the partition from being pulled up, ensuring the stability of the material handling process.

[0031] Specifically, the second gripper fixing plate 701 is connected to the end of the dual-axis module 9, the gripper fixing frame 702 is installed below the second gripper fixing plate 701, the guide rail 703 is installed on the inner side of the gripper fixing frame 702, and the gripper hook plate 704 is slidably connected to the guide rail 703.

[0032] Using the above solution, the gripper hook plate 704 can slide stably along the guide rail 703, improving the accuracy and stability when gripping empty pallets, while expanding the adaptability range of the gripper and providing a spatial adjustment basis for gripping pallets of different sizes.

[0033] Specifically, the clamping cylinder 705 is mounted on the gripper fixing frame 702 and its output end is connected to the gripper hook plate 704, which is used to drive the gripper hook plate 704 to clamp the empty pallet.

[0034] Using the above solution, the clamping cylinder 705 can quickly drive the gripper hook plate 704 to complete the clamping / releasing action, which can stably clamp empty pallets of different sizes and improve the efficiency and stability of empty pallet stacking.

[0035] The working principle of this utility model: In use, the entire tray of silicon rods 2 is fed to the roller conveyor line 1 and sequentially transferred to the robot unpacking station. Once in place, the picking robot 3 drives the composite picking gripper mechanism 6 to operate. First, the top cover is removed by the rubber suction cup 608 and placed in the partition collection area. After the cover is removed, the 3D vision camera 4 takes a picture and gives the coordinates of each silicon rod to the picking robot 3. The picking robot 3 moves to the silicon rod picking position according to the corresponding coordinates. The sponge suction cup 609 and the clamping plate 606 start to adsorb and clamp the silicon rods, picking them out one by one and placing them in the silicon rod fixture 12. After they are in place, they are released. This cycle is repeated to pick up all the silicon rods in the same layer. After all the silicon rods are picked up, the rubber suction cup 608 removes the middle partition and places it in the partition storage area 11. Then, the silicon rods are picked up again. This cycle is repeated to pick up all the silicon rods in the entire tray of silicon rods 2. When picking up the silicon rods in the middle layer, during the upward movement of the silicon rods, the ejection cylinders 605 on both sides are activated to push the bottom partition to prevent it from being lifted by the silicon rods.

[0036] After the entire pallet of silicon rods 2 is removed, the empty pallet is conveyed to the end of the roller conveyor line 1. The dual-axis module 9 drives the pallet picking gripper mechanism 7 to move horizontally and vertically, so that the gripper hook plate 704, driven by the clamping cylinder 705, picks up the empty pallet and moves it to the pallet stacking area 10 for storage. After stacking to a certain height, a full pallet signal is sent to the AGV to transport the entire pallet to the designated storage area. When the partition storage area 11 collects a certain number of partitions, a full material signal is also sent to the AGV to transport the entire pallet of partitions to the designated storage area.

[0037] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

[0038] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A kind of automatic vision unpacking and stacking equipment of silicon rod, it is characterized in that: The device comprises a roller conveying line (1), a whole silicon rod (2), a taking robot (3), a 3D vision camera (4), a camera support (5), a composite taking clamp mechanism (6), a tray taking clamp mechanism (7), a module support (8), a double-shaft module (9), a tray stacking area (10), a partition plate storage area (11), a silicon rod tooling (12) and a silicon rod conveying line (13), the whole silicon rod (2) is placed on the roller conveying line (1) and transferred along the roller conveying line (1) to a unpacking station, the camera support (5) is fixed to the side wall of the roller conveying line (1), the 3D vision camera (4) is installed on the camera support (5) and used for collecting coordinate information of the whole silicon rod (2) and transmitting the coordinate information to the taking robot (3), the end of the taking robot (3) is provided with the composite taking clamp mechanism (6) for taking the cover plate, the silicon rod and the partition plate on the whole silicon rod (2), the module support (8) is arranged above the tray stacking area (10), the double-shaft module (9) for driving the tray taking clamp mechanism (7) to move horizontally and vertically is installed on the module support (8), the tray taking clamp mechanism (7) is used for taking and stacking the empty tray, the partition plate storage area (11) is arranged on one side of the roller conveying line (1) and used for storing the cover plate and the partition plate taken in the unpacking process, and the silicon rod tooling (12) is placed on the silicon rod conveying line (13) and used for receiving the taken silicon rod and transferring the silicon rod to a subsequent process.

2. The automatic vision-based unpackaging and palletizing apparatus for silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The composite taking clamp mechanism (6) comprises a flange (601), a clamp fixed plate one (602), a servo motor (603), a moving clamp plate (604), a material returning cylinder (605), a clamping plate (606), a floating support (607), a rubber suction cup (608), a sponge suction cup (609), a cylinder fixed plate (610) and a lifting cylinder (611).

3. The automatic vision-based unpackaging and palletizing apparatus for silicon rods according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tray taking clamp mechanism (7) comprises a clamp fixed plate two (701), a clamp fixed frame (702), a guide rail (703), a clamp hook plate (704) and a clamping cylinder (705).

4. The automatic vision-based unpackaging and depalletizing equipment for silicon rods according to claim 2, characterized in that: The flange (601) is connected with the end of the taking robot (3), the clamp fixed plate one (602) is fixed below the flange (601), the servo motor (603) is installed on one side of the clamp fixed plate one (602) and the output end of the servo motor (603) is connected with the moving clamp plate (604), the clamping plate (606) is fixed to the inner side of the moving clamp plate (604) and used for clamping the silicon rod at both ends.

5. The automatic vision-based unpackaging and depalletizing equipment for silicon rods according to claim 2, characterized in that: The cylinder fixed plate (610) is installed on the clamp fixed plate one (602), the lifting cylinder (611) is installed on the cylinder fixed plate (610) and the output end of the lifting cylinder (611) is connected with the rubber suction cup (608), the sponge suction cup (609) is installed below the floating support (607), the sponge suction cup (609) adopts a small module combination structure, and the material returning cylinder (605) is installed outside the moving clamp plate (604) and used for pushing the bottom partition plate.

6. The automatic vision-based unpackaging and depalletizing equipment for silicon rods according to claim 3, characterized in that: The second jaw fixing plate (701) is connected with the end of the double-shaft module (9), the jaw fixing frame (702) is installed below the second jaw fixing plate (701), the guide rail (703) is installed on the inner side of the jaw fixing frame (702), and the jaw hook plate (704) is slidingly connected to the guide rail (703).

7. The automatic vision-based unpackaging and depalletizing equipment for silicon rods according to claim 3, characterized in that: The clamping cylinder (705) is installed on the jaw fixing frame (702) and connected with the output end of the jaw hook plate (704), and is used for driving the jaw hook plate (704) to clamp the empty tray.

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