A material distributing device

Abstract

The application relates to a material separating device applied to the field of material production, which comprises a mounting frame, a material taking mechanism for taking half of fruits on the mounting frame, a carrying mechanism for driving the material taking mechanism to move, the material taking mechanism comprises at least two piercing units for taking half of fruits and a separating unit for driving the piercing units to separate, and the application has the technical effect that the piercing units and the separating unit are used to reduce the cutting deformation and damage of half of fruits caused by uneven manual taking of half of fruits, improve the integrity of half of fruits, reduce the rate of defective products, realize automatic material taking and separating, reduce the labor cost and save time and effort, and improve the efficiency of material production.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of material production technology, and in particular to a material dispensing device. Background Technology

[0002] Materials refer to all kinds of raw materials required in the production, manufacturing, or service process. In the production of food materials, cutting fruits in half is a common step, such as in the production of betel nuts, dried apples, and dried apricots. After the whole fruit is cut into two halves, the two halves often remain tightly stuck together because they are still sticky.

[0003] In food processing, the diced fruit halves need to be completely separated before being transported to the next step for pitting. In this technique, an operator takes the fruit halves and manually separates them completely to achieve the desired separation, then transports the separated halves to the pitting process.

[0004] The above-mentioned method of manually handling half of the fruit and manually dividing it can lead to uneven handling force, which may cause the pieces to deform or break. This method is time-consuming and labor-intensive, resulting in low production efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the problem of manual handling and separation of fruit halves by operators, which can lead to uneven handling and deformation or breakage of the cut pieces, resulting in low production efficiency due to time and labor consumption, this application provides a material separation device with the following technical solution: It includes a mounting frame, on which a material-grabbing mechanism for picking up fruit halves and a conveying mechanism for driving the material-grabbing mechanism to move are provided. The material-grabbing mechanism includes at least two piercing units for picking up fruit halves and a separation unit for driving the piercing units to separate.

[0006] In one specific implementation, the piercing unit includes a support frame disposed on the mounting frame, the support frame having a piercing needle, with the fruit half located at the end of the piercing needle.

[0007] In one specific implementation, the material distribution unit includes at least two sliders slidably connected to the support frame, the needles are respectively disposed on the sliders, and the support frame is provided with a drive unit for driving the at least two sliders to move.

[0008] In one specific implementation, the drive unit includes a bidirectional lead screw rotatably connected to the support frame, with nuts threaded to both ends of the bidirectional lead screw, and two sliders respectively disposed on the two nuts. The support frame is provided with a first drive unit for driving the bidirectional lead screw to rotate.

[0009] In one specific implementation, one end of the bidirectional lead screw is connected to the output end of the first drive unit via a coupling.

[0010] In one specific implementation, the support frame is provided with a guide rail arranged parallel to the bidirectional lead screw, and two guide blocks are slidably connected on the guide rail, with the two sliders respectively disposed on the two guide blocks.

[0011] In one specific implementation, the material handling mechanism further includes an attitude adjustment unit for adjusting the placement posture of the cut material. The attitude adjustment unit includes a second driving part respectively disposed on the slider. The second driving part drives the needle to rotate, and the needle is connected to the output end of the second driving part.

[0012] In one specific implementation, the conveying mechanism includes a horizontal linear module mounted on a mounting frame, and the support frame is mounted on a slide table of the horizontal linear module.

[0013] In one specific implementation, a vertical linear module is provided on the slide of the horizontal linear module, and the support frame is disposed on the slide of the vertical linear module.

[0014] In one specific implementation scheme, the mounting frame is further provided with a detection mechanism for detecting whether the needle is intact. The detection mechanism includes an image acquisition unit and a data processing unit. The image acquisition unit acquires image information of the needle after it has detached from the material and transmits the image information to the data processing unit. The data processing unit processes the image information and determines whether the needle is intact.

[0015] In summary, this application has the following beneficial technical effects: When it is necessary to separate the fruit halves that are attached to each other, the insertion unit picks up the fruit halves separately, the separating unit is activated, and the fruit halves on the insertion unit are driven to completely separate to achieve separation. Subsequently, the conveying mechanism is activated to transport the separated fruit halves to the next process. By using the insertion unit and the separating unit, the problems of cutting deformation and breakage that are easily caused by uneven force when manually picking up and separating fruit halves are reduced, the integrity of the fruit halves is improved, the defect rate is reduced, and automated picking and separating of materials is achieved. This reduces labor costs, saves time and effort, and improves the efficiency of material production. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of this application.

[0017] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a bidirectional lead screw in the embodiments of this application.

[0018] Reference numerals: 1. Mounting bracket; 2. Transport mechanism; 3. Insertion unit; 4. Material distribution unit; 5. Support frame; 6. Needle; 7. Slider; 8. Two-way lead screw; 9. Nut; 10. First drive unit; 11. Coupling; 12. Guide rail; 13. Guide block; 14. Second drive unit; 15. Horizontal linear module; 16. Vertical linear module; 17. Needle handle; 18. Connecting handle; 19. Needle tip. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The following is in conjunction with the appendix Figure 1-2 This application will be described in further detail.

[0020] This application discloses a material dispensing device.

[0021] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The material distribution device includes a mounting frame 1, on which a material-grabbing mechanism for picking up fruit halves and a conveying mechanism 2 for driving the material-grabbing mechanism to move are provided. The material-grabbing mechanism includes at least two piercing units 3 for picking up fruit halves and a distribution unit 4 for driving the piercing units 3 to separate. In this embodiment, the piercing units 3 can be applied to food materials, such as yellow peaches and areca nuts. In this embodiment, areca nuts are cut into two areca nut pieces by a cutting process as an example.

[0022] Therefore, when it is necessary to separate the closely fitting fruit halves, the insertion unit 3 picks up the fruit halves separately, and the separating unit 4 is activated to drive the fruit halves on the insertion unit 3 to completely separate them. Subsequently, the conveying mechanism 2 is activated to transport the separated fruit halves to the next process. By using the insertion unit 3 and the separating unit 4, the problems of cutting deformation and breakage that are easily caused by uneven force when manually picking up and separating fruit halves are reduced, the integrity of the fruit halves is improved, the defect rate is reduced, and automated picking and separating of materials is achieved. This reduces labor costs, saves time and effort, and improves the efficiency of material production.

[0023] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The piercing unit 3 includes a support frame 5 mounted on the mounting frame 1. A piercing needle 6 is mounted on the support frame 5. The piercing needle 6 includes a needle handle 17, a connecting handle 18, and a needle tip 19 arranged sequentially. The needle handle 17, connecting handle 18, and needle tip 19 can be separate or integrally formed. In this embodiment, the needle handle 17, connecting handle 18, and needle tip 19 are integrally formed as an example. An anti-detachment block is fixedly connected to the outer edge of the piercing needle 6. The fruit half is located at the end of the piercing needle 6. In this embodiment, the anti-detachment block is located on the needle tip 19, and the fruit half is located on the needle tip 19. The anti-detachment block increases the friction between the needle tip 19 and the areca nut slice, reducing the possibility of the areca nut slice falling off and improving the stability of the piercing needle 6 in the process of picking up the areca nut slice.

[0024] Refer to and Figure 2 The conveying mechanism 2 includes a horizontal linear module 15 mounted on the mounting frame 1, a vertical linear module 16 mounted on the slide of the horizontal linear module 15, and a support frame 5 mounted on the slide of the vertical linear module 16. Therefore, activating the horizontal linear module 15 moves the vertical linear module 16 and the support frame 5 on its slide, allowing the support frame 5 to slide horizontally. Activating the vertical linear module 16 raises and lowers the support frame 5 on its slide. When the vertical linear module 16 drives the support frame 5 to descend, the needles 6 on the support frame 5 pierce into the fruit half. Subsequently, the support frame 5 rises and moves horizontally under the drive of the horizontal linear module 15, thus achieving separate fruit half-picking by piercing the fruit half.

[0025] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The material distribution unit 4 includes at least two sliders 7 slidably connected to the support frame 5. The support frame 5 is provided with a drive unit for driving the movement of at least two sliders 7. In this embodiment, two sliders 7 are used as an example for illustration. Two needles 6 are respectively disposed on the two sliders 7. The drive unit includes a bidirectional lead screw 8 rotatably connected to the support frame 5. Nuts 9 are threaded to both ends of the bidirectional lead screw 8. The two sliders 7 are respectively disposed on the two nuts 9. The support frame 5 is provided with a first drive part 10 for driving the bidirectional lead screw 8 to rotate. One end of the bidirectional lead screw 8 is connected to the output end of the first drive part 10 through a coupling 11. In this embodiment, the first drive unit 10 can be a first drive motor. The first drive motor is directly connected to one end of the bidirectional lead screw through a coupling 11. The coupling 11 absorbs the deviation between the output shaft of the first drive motor and the bidirectional lead screw 8, which facilitates the efficient transmission of the rotational power of the first drive motor to the bidirectional lead screw 8. Alternatively, the first drive unit 10 can be a drive motor that is connected to the end of the bidirectional lead screw through other transmission components. The transmission components can be a transmission wheel and a conveyor belt, or other transmission methods, which will not be described in detail here.

[0026] Therefore, the first drive motor is started, which drives the bidirectional lead screw 8 at the output end of the first drive motor to rotate. The rotation of the bidirectional lead screw 8 drives the two nuts 9 to move relative to or away from each other along the length direction of the bidirectional lead screw 8. During the movement of the nuts 9, the slider 7 and the needle 6 are driven to move, so as to realize the movement of the areca nut pieces on the needle 6.

[0027] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2The support frame 5 is bolted with a guide rail 12 that is parallel to the bidirectional lead screw 8. Two guide blocks 13 that match the size of the guide rail 12 are slidably connected on the guide rail 12. Two sliders 7 are respectively set on the two guide blocks 13. The guide rail 12 limits the sliding direction of the guide blocks 13, which further improves the stability of the movement of the nut 9 and the needle 6 on the nut 9.

[0028] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The material handling mechanism also includes an attitude adjustment unit for adjusting the placement posture of the cut material. The attitude adjustment unit includes a second drive unit 14 respectively disposed on the slider 7. The second drive unit 14 drives the needles 6 to rotate, and the needles 6 are connected to the output end of the second drive unit 14. In this embodiment, the second drive unit 14 can be a second drive motor, and the two needles 6 are respectively disposed at the output ends of the two second drive motors. Therefore, after the two needles 6 on the support frame 5 are inserted into the two fruit halves, the vertical linear module 16 drives the support frame 5 to rise, and the material distribution unit 4 drives the two fruit halves to separate from each other. If it is necessary to adjust the placement posture of the areca nut pieces on the needles 6 according to the actual situation on site, the two second drive motors are started, driving the needles 6 at the output ends of the two second drive motors to rotate respectively, adjusting the areca nut pieces on the two needles 6 to the required placement posture, thereby realizing automatic attitude adjustment of the fruit halves on the needles 6. In this embodiment, the areca nut pieces that were originally arranged opposite each other are rotated, so that the inner cavity of the areca nut pieces that were originally arranged opposite each other is adjusted to the required angle, thereby facilitating the subsequent process of removing the pit from the inner cavity of the areca nut.

[0029] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The mounting frame 1 is also equipped with a detection mechanism for checking whether the needle 6 is intact. The detection mechanism includes an image acquisition unit and a data processing unit. The image acquisition unit acquires image information of the needle 6 after it has detached from the material and transmits the image information to the data processing unit. The data processing unit processes the image information and determines whether the needle 6 is intact. In this embodiment, the image acquisition unit can be a camera, and the data processing unit can be a control terminal. The control terminal is pre-set with image information of the complete needle 6 in the initial state. The camera takes a picture of the needle 6 to obtain real-time image information and transmits the real-time image information to the control terminal. The control terminal compares the real-time image information of the needle 6 taken by the camera with the image information of the complete needle 6. If the real-time image information shows that part of the needle 6 is missing, it indicates that the needle 6 is in an incomplete state.

[0030] It should be noted that the purpose of checking whether the needle 6 is intact is mainly to reduce the possibility of residual metal in the areca nut. In related technologies, food metal detectors are usually used to detect residual metal. However, the detection accuracy of metal detectors is limited, and there is a possibility of missing metal fragments in a small area. For example, metal fragments smaller than 0.4 mm are not easily detected by metal detectors. Furthermore, metal detectors are easily affected by external environmental interference. For example, aluminum foil packaging can cause signal shielding, making it difficult to effectively monitor for accidentally residual metal in the areca nut.

[0031] This application innovatively proposes using image recognition to detect areca nuts. An image acquisition unit acquires image information of the needle 6 after it has detached from the material, and a data processing unit processes the image information to determine the integrity of the needle 6. High-resolution image acquisition enables non-destructive testing, improving the accuracy of areca nut detection and reducing interference from the external environment, thus enhancing applicability. Furthermore, the detection method in this application significantly differs from metal detectors in related technologies. Metal detectors determine the integrity of the needle 6 by detecting the presence of metal inside the areca nut, while this application uses an image acquisition unit and a data processing unit to infer the presence of residue inside the areca nut by detecting the wear and tear of the needle 6. Metal detectors are passive detection methods, only able to detect detached metal fragments and unable to determine whether the needle 6 is about to break or has partially remained in the areca nut. This application's embodiment analyzes the integrity of the needle 6 through high-resolution image analysis, proactively identifying potential problems such as wear, deformation, and micro-cracks in the needle 6, allowing for early replacement or adjustment of the equipment, reducing the occurrence of metal residue in the needle 6, and improving food safety.

[0032] The implementation principle of this application embodiment is as follows: When it is necessary to separate the areca nut pieces that are attached to each other, the horizontal linear module 15 is activated, which drives the vertical linear module 16 and the support frame 5 on the slide of the horizontal linear module 15 to move, so as to realize the horizontal sliding of the support frame 5. The vertical linear module 16 is activated, which drives the support frame 5 on the slide of the vertical linear module 16 to rise and fall. When the vertical linear module 16 drives the support frame 5 to fall, the two needles 6 on the support frame 5 are inserted into the two areca nut pieces respectively. Then the support frame 5 rises and moves horizontally under the drive of the horizontal linear module 15, so as to realize the separate extraction of the two areca nut pieces by inserting needles into the half of the fruit. After the two needles 6 pick up the two areca nut pieces, the first drive motor is started, which drives the bidirectional lead screw 8 at the output end of the first drive motor to rotate. The rotation of the bidirectional lead screw 8 drives the two nuts 9 to move in opposite directions along the length of the bidirectional lead screw 8. During the movement of the nuts 9, the slider 7 and the needles 6 move, causing the areca nut pieces on the needles 6 to move and separate the two areca nut pieces that were originally in a close-fitting state, thus realizing the automated distribution of areca nut pieces. If it is necessary to adjust the placement posture of the areca nut pieces on the needles 6 according to the actual situation on site, the two second drive motors are started simultaneously, which drive the needles 6 at the output end of the two second drive motors to rotate and adjust the areca nut pieces on the needles 6 to the required placement posture, thus realizing the automatic posture adjustment of the fruit half on the needles 6. Then, the horizontal linear module 15 is started to transport the distributed areca nut pieces to the next process. By utilizing the insertion unit 3 and the material distribution unit 4, the problems of cutting deformation and breakage that are easily caused by uneven force when manually handling the fruit halves are reduced. This improves the integrity of the fruit halves, reduces the defect rate, realizes automated material handling and distribution, reduces labor costs, saves time and effort, and improves the efficiency of material production.

[0033] This specific embodiment is merely an explanation of the present invention and is not intended to limit the invention. After reading this specification, those skilled in the art can make modifications to this embodiment without contributing any inventive step, but such modifications are protected by patent law as long as they are within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A material dispensing device, characterized in that: The device includes a mounting frame (1), which is provided with a material-taking mechanism for taking material from half of the fruit and a conveying mechanism (2) for driving the material-taking mechanism to move. The material-taking mechanism includes at least two piercing units (3) for taking material from half of the fruit and a material-distributing unit (4) for driving the piercing units (3) to separate.

2. The material dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The piercing unit (3) includes a support frame (5) disposed on the mounting frame (1), and a needle (6) is provided on the support frame (5), with half of the fruit located at the end of the needle (6).

3. The material dispensing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The material distribution unit (4) includes at least two sliders (7) slidably connected to the support frame (5), and the needles (6) are respectively disposed on the sliders (7). The support frame (5) is provided with a drive unit for driving at least two sliders (7) to move.

4. The material dispensing device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The drive unit includes a bidirectional lead screw (8) rotatably connected to the support frame (5), with nuts (9) threaded to both ends of the bidirectional lead screw (8), and two sliders (7) respectively disposed on the two nuts (9). The support frame (5) is provided with a first drive part (10) for driving the bidirectional lead screw (8) to rotate.

5. The material dispensing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: One end of the bidirectional lead screw (8) is connected to the output end of the first drive unit (10) via a coupling (11).

6. The material dispensing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The support frame (5) is provided with a guide rail (12) parallel to the bidirectional lead screw (8), and two guide blocks (13) are slidably connected on the guide rail (12), and the two sliders (7) are respectively set on the two guide blocks (13).

7. The material dispensing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The material handling mechanism also includes an attitude adjustment unit for adjusting the placement posture of the cut material. The attitude adjustment unit includes a second drive unit (14) respectively disposed on the slider (7). The second drive unit (14) drives the needle (6) to rotate. The needle (6) is connected to the output end of the second drive unit (14).

8. The material dispensing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The transport mechanism (2) includes a horizontal linear module (15) mounted on a mounting frame (1), and the support frame (5) is mounted on the slide of the horizontal linear module (15).

9. The material dispensing device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The horizontal linear module (15) has a vertical linear module (16) on its slide, and the support frame (5) is set on the slide of the vertical linear module (16).

10. The material dispensing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The mounting frame (1) is also provided with a detection mechanism for detecting whether the needle (6) is intact. The detection mechanism includes an image acquisition unit and a data processing unit. The image acquisition unit acquires image information of the needle (6) after it is separated from the material and transmits the image information to the data processing unit. The data processing unit processes the image information and determines whether the needle (6) is intact.

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