Assembly apparatus for dispensers for water heaters and production system for water heaters

Abstract

The application belongs to the technical field of electrical appliances, and particularly relates to an assembling equipment of a dispenser for a water heater and a production system of the water heater. The assembling equipment comprises a conveying mechanism, a first assembling unit, a second assembling unit and a third assembling unit. The conveying mechanism is used for conveying materials. An upper feeding station, a first station, a second station and a third station are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the conveying mechanism. The upper feeding station is used for feeding a dispenser body, a sealing ring and an air valve of the dispenser. The first assembling unit is arranged at the first station, and is used for assembling the sealing ring to a water inlet of the dispenser body. The second assembling unit is arranged at the second station, and is used for assembling an electromagnetic valve of the dispenser to the water inlet. The third assembling unit is arranged at the third station, and is used for assembling the air valve to an air inlet. The assembling equipment is beneficial to improving the automation degree of the dispenser assembling, saving manpower and improving the assembling efficiency of the dispenser.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of electrical technology, specifically relating to an assembly device for a water heater distributor and a water heater production system. Background Technology

[0002] The distributor is a crucial component of the hot water circulation system in a heat pump water heater, playing a role in optimizing water flow distribution and ensuring system stability. The distributor includes the distributor body, sealing rings, solenoid valves, and gas valves.

[0003] In the existing technology, when assembling the distributor, the sealing ring needs to be installed manually on the distributor body, and then the solenoid valve and the air valve are fixed in the corresponding positions on the distributor body in sequence.

[0004] However, manual assembly of the dispenser requires a large amount of manpower and has low assembly efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0005] This application provides an assembly device for a water heater distributor and a water heater production system, which helps to save manpower required for assembling the distributor and improve assembly efficiency.

[0006] On one hand, this application provides an assembly device for a water heater distributor, comprising: a transmission mechanism for transmitting materials; along the transmission direction of the transmission mechanism, the assembly device is sequentially provided with a feeding station, a first station, a second station, and a third station, wherein the feeding station is used for feeding the distributor body, sealing ring, and air valve of the distributor; a first assembly unit located at the first station, the first assembly unit being used to assemble the sealing ring to the water inlet of the distributor body; a second assembly unit located at the second station, the second assembly unit being used to assemble the solenoid valve of the distributor to the water inlet; and a third assembly unit located at the third station, the third assembly unit being used to assemble the air valve to the air inlet of the distributor body.

[0007] In one possible implementation, the first assembly unit includes: a first workbench fixed to the first workstation; and a first robotic arm movably disposed on the first workbench, the first robotic arm being a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, the first robotic arm being used to grasp the sealing ring from the transmission mechanism and assemble the sealing ring to the water inlet.

[0008] In one possible implementation, the second assembly unit includes: a second workbench fixed to the second workstation; a feeding platform located at the second workstation and distributed on opposite sides of the transmission mechanism, the feeding platform being used to place the solenoid valve to be installed; and a second robotic arm movably mounted on the second workbench, the second robotic arm being a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, the second robotic arm being used to grab the solenoid valve from the feeding platform and assemble the solenoid valve to the water inlet.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the distributor body is provided with a plurality of water inlets, and the sealing ring and the solenoid valve are each corresponding to one of the water inlets; the second assembly unit is a plurality of units corresponding to one of the water inlets, and the plurality of second assembly units are arranged along the transmission direction of the transmission mechanism, and each second assembly unit is used to assemble the corresponding solenoid valve to the corresponding water inlet.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the third assembly unit includes: a third workbench fixed to the third workstation; and a third robotic arm movably mounted on the third workbench, the third robotic arm being a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm used to grasp the air valve from the transmission mechanism and assemble the air valve to the vent.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the vent and the water inlet are located on different sides of the distributor body. The assembly equipment also includes a flipping station located between the second station and the third station. The assembly equipment further includes a flipping unit for flipping the distributor body so that the third robotic arm can assemble the air valve to the vent. The flipping unit includes a flipping worktable fixed to the flipping station and a flipping robotic arm movably disposed on the flipping worktable for gripping and flipping the distributor body from the transmission mechanism.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the assembly equipment further includes a detection station located downstream of the third station along the transmission direction of the transmission mechanism. The assembly equipment also includes: a material marking device for marking the assembled dispensers; and a detection device for performing quality inspection on the marked dispensers to obtain inspection results, and recording the inspection results into the detection system based on the markings on the dispensers.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the assembly equipment further includes a material transfer device for transferring the dispenser, after being inspected by the inspection device, to the loading station.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the transmission mechanism includes: a frame; a transport assembly comprising a movable body and a carrier, the movable body being movably disposed on the frame, the carrier being disposed on the movable body to move with the movable body, the carrier being used to place materials, and there are two transport assemblies, namely an assembly-side transport assembly and a return-side transport assembly, the assembly-side transport assembly sequentially passing through the first station, the second station and the third station to assemble the distributor, and the return-side transport assembly being used to receive the distributor from the material transfer device and transfer it to the loading station.

[0015] In one possible implementation, two transport components are vertically spaced apart on the frame, and the assembly equipment further includes: a sorting device that, based on the detection results in the detection system, picks out distributors that fail the detection; the material transfer device includes: a first transfer device located downstream of the detection device to transfer distributors on the assembly-side transport component to the return-side transport component; and a second transfer device located upstream of the loading station to transfer distributors on the return-side transport component to the loading station.

[0016] On the other hand, this application provides a water heater production system, including the assembly equipment described in any of the above claims.

[0017] The assembly equipment and production system for water heater distributors provided in this application include a transmission mechanism, a first assembly unit, a second assembly unit, and a third assembly unit. The distributor comprises a distributor body, a sealing ring, a solenoid valve, and a gas valve. The distributor body has a water inlet and a gas inlet. The solenoid valve is located at the water inlet, the gas valve is located at the gas inlet, and the sealing ring is located between the solenoid valve and the distributor body. During the assembly of the distributor, the distributor body, sealing ring, and gas valve are first loaded onto the transmission mechanism at the loading station. The transmission mechanism then transports the materials to the first station. The first assembly unit assembles the sealing ring onto the water inlet. The transmission mechanism continues to transport the materials to the second station. The second assembly unit assembles the solenoid valve onto the water inlet. The materials are then transported to the third station. The third assembly unit assembles the gas valve onto the gas inlet, thus obtaining the distributor. Therefore, the assembly equipment provided in this application only requires placing the materials at the loading station, and the subsequent fully automatic assembly of the distributor can be achieved, effectively saving the manpower required for distributor assembly and improving the assembly efficiency and quality of the distributor. Attached Figure Description

[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application.

[0019] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the assembly equipment for a water heater distributor provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A magnified view of a section at point A in the middle;

[0021] Figure 3 for Figure 1 A magnified view of a section at point B in the middle;

[0022] Figure 4 for Figure 1 A magnified view of a section at point C.

[0023] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures:

[0024] 100 - Assembly equipment;

[0025] 110 - Conveying mechanism; 111 - Frame; 112 - Assembly-side transport assembly; 113 - Return-side transport assembly;

[0026] 120 - First assembly unit; 121 - First worktable; 122 - First robotic arm;

[0027] 130 - Second assembly unit; 131 - Second workbench; 132 - Feeding station; 133 - Second robotic arm;

[0028] 140 - Third assembly unit; 141 - Third workbench; 142 - Third robotic arm;

[0029] 150 - Flip unit; 151 - Flip worktable; 152 - Flip robotic arm;

[0030] 160 - Material marking device;

[0031] 170 - Detection device;

[0032] 180 - Material transfer device; 181 - First transfer device; 182 - Second transfer device.

[0033] The accompanying drawings illustrate specific embodiments of this application, which will be described in more detail below. These drawings and descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the concept in any way, but rather to illustrate the concepts of this application to those skilled in the art through reference to particular embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0034] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the technical solutions of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0035] The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," etc. (if present) in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this utility model are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments of the utility model described herein can be implemented, for example, in orders other than those illustrated or described herein.

[0036] In this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0037] As described in the background section, in the prior art, assembling a distributor requires manual installation of the sealing ring onto the distributor body, followed by the sequential fixing of the solenoid valve and air valve to their corresponding positions on the distributor body. However, manual assembly of the distributor consumes a significant amount of manpower and has low assembly efficiency.

[0038] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides an assembly device for a water heater distributor and a water heater production system. The assembly device includes a transmission mechanism, a first assembly unit, a second assembly unit, and a third assembly unit. The distributor includes a distributor body, a sealing ring, a solenoid valve, and a gas valve. The distributor body has a water inlet and a gas inlet. The solenoid valve is located at the water inlet, the gas valve is located at the gas inlet, and the sealing ring is located between the solenoid valve and the distributor body. When assembling the distributor, the distributor body, sealing ring, and gas valve are first loaded onto the transmission mechanism at the loading station. The transmission mechanism then transports the materials to the first station. The first assembly unit assembles the sealing ring onto the water inlet. The transmission mechanism continues to transport the materials to the second station. The second assembly unit assembles the solenoid valve onto the water inlet. The materials are then transported to the third station. The third assembly unit assembles the gas valve onto the gas inlet, thus obtaining the distributor. Therefore, the assembly device provided in this application only requires placing the materials at the loading station, and the subsequent fully automatic assembly of the distributor can be achieved, effectively saving the manpower required for distributor assembly and improving the assembly efficiency and quality of the distributor.

[0039] The technical solution of this application and how the technical solution of this application solves the above-mentioned technical problems are described in detail below with specific embodiments. These specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described again in some embodiments. The embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0040] It should be noted that the assembly equipment for the water heater distributor provided in this application embodiment can be applied to various water heater production systems.

[0041] See Figure 1 As shown in the figure, this application embodiment provides an assembly device 100 for a water heater distributor. The distributor includes a distributor body, a sealing ring, a solenoid valve, and a gas valve. The distributor body has a water inlet and a gas inlet. The solenoid valve is disposed at the water inlet, the gas valve is disposed at the gas inlet, and the sealing ring is disposed between the solenoid valve and the distributor body.

[0042] The assembly equipment 100 includes a transmission mechanism 110, a first assembly unit 120, a second assembly unit 130, and a third assembly unit 140. The transmission mechanism 110 is used to transmit materials. Along the transmission direction of the transmission mechanism 110, the assembly equipment 100 is sequentially provided with a feeding station, a first station, a second station, and a third station. The feeding station is used to feed the distributor body, the sealing ring, and the air valve. The first assembly unit 120 is located at the first station and is used to assemble the sealing ring to the water inlet. The second assembly unit 130 is located at the second station and is used to assemble the solenoid valve to the water inlet. The third assembly unit 140 is located at the third station and is used to assemble the air valve to the air inlet.

[0043] In this embodiment, when assembling the distributor, the distributor body, sealing ring, and air valve are first loaded onto the conveying mechanism 110 at the loading station. The conveying mechanism 110 then conveys the materials to the first station, where the first assembly unit 120 assembles the sealing ring onto the water inlet. The conveying mechanism 110 continues to convey the materials to the second station, where the second assembly unit 130 assembles the solenoid valve onto the water inlet. The materials are then conveyed to the third station, where the third assembly unit 140 assembles the air valve onto the air inlet, thus obtaining the distributor. Therefore, the assembly equipment 100 provided in this application only requires placing the materials on the loading station, and the fully automatic assembly of the distributor can be achieved subsequently. This effectively saves the manpower required for distributor assembly and helps to improve the assembly efficiency and quality of the distributor.

[0044] The material loading station can be operated manually or by a material loading device. When loading manually, two loading stations can be set up. The first loading station is used to load the distributor body and the sealing ring, and the second loading station is used to load the air valve. This can avoid excessive workload for a single person, help ensure the accuracy and efficiency of loading, and thus ensure that the subsequent assembly work can proceed smoothly.

[0045] See also some of the possible implementation methods. Figure 1 As shown, the distributor body of this application embodiment is provided with multiple water inlets, and the sealing ring and solenoid valve are all corresponding to the water inlets one by one; the second assembly unit 130 is a plurality of units corresponding to the water inlets one by one, and the plurality of second assembly units 130 are arranged along the transmission direction of the transmission mechanism 110, and each second assembly unit 130 is used to assemble the corresponding solenoid valve to the corresponding water inlet.

[0046] Therefore, the second assembly unit 130 can be set according to the number of water inlets. This ensures that each second assembly unit 130 only needs to repeat one set of operations, which reduces the operational requirements of the second assembly unit 130 and helps to improve the assembly efficiency of the second assembly unit 130. At the same time, different numbers of second assembly units 130 can be opened according to different distributor models, which helps to expand the application range of the assembly equipment 100 and improve the flexibility of the assembly equipment 100.

[0047] See also some of the possible implementation methods. Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the first assembly unit 120 of this application embodiment includes a first workbench 121 and a first robotic arm 122. The first workbench 121 is fixed to a first work station; the first robotic arm 122 is movably disposed on the first workbench 121. The first robotic arm 122 is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The first robotic arm 122 is used to grab a sealing ring from the transmission mechanism 110 and assemble the sealing ring to the water inlet.

[0048] In practice, the first robotic arm 122 with multiple degrees of freedom can flexibly grab the sealing ring from the transmission mechanism 110 and accurately assemble it into the water inlet, thereby achieving efficient and accurate automated assembly, which helps to reduce manual intervention and improve the production efficiency and assembly quality of the distributor.

[0049] Furthermore, the first robotic arm 122 is directly integrated onto the first worktable 121 fixed to the first workstation, eliminating the need for additional moving or repositioning devices. This results in a more compact overall structure, saving space occupied by the first workstation. The multi-degree-of-freedom first robotic arm 122 can adapt to water inlets of different angles and depths, and is compatible with various types of distributors, thus improving the flexibility of the assembly equipment 100.

[0050] See also some of the possible implementation methods. Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, the second assembly unit 130 of this application embodiment includes a second workbench 131, a feeding platform 132, and a second robotic arm 133. The second workbench 131 is fixed to the second work station. The feeding platform 132 is located at the second work station and is distributed on opposite sides of the transmission mechanism 110 with the second workbench 131. The feeding platform 132 is used to place the solenoid valve to be installed. The second robotic arm 133 is movably located on the second workbench 131. The second robotic arm 133 is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The second robotic arm 133 is used to grab the solenoid valve from the feeding platform 132 and assemble the solenoid valve to the water inlet.

[0051] In some embodiments, since different distributors require different numbers of solenoid valves to be assembled, manual loading at the loading station is prone to errors, resulting in insufficient or surplus solenoid valves during subsequent assembly. Therefore, a feeding platform 132 can be set in the second assembly unit 130, on which multiple solenoid valves are placed. The second assembly unit 130 can pick up solenoid valves from the feeding platform 132 as needed for assembly, which helps to further improve the assembly efficiency and quality of the distributor.

[0052] Furthermore, the multi-degree-of-freedom second robotic arm 133 can flexibly grab the solenoid valve from the feeding table 132 and accurately assemble it into the water inlet, thereby achieving efficient and accurate automated assembly, which helps to reduce manual intervention and improve the production efficiency and assembly quality of the distributor.

[0053] Meanwhile, the action of grabbing the solenoid valve and assembling it can be completed in one go by the second robotic arm 133, which reduces the intermediate transfer links of the solenoid valve, helps to reduce the risk of secondary contamination or damage to the solenoid valve, and further improves the yield of the distributor.

[0054] See also some of the possible implementation methods. Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, the third assembly unit 140 of this application embodiment includes: a third workbench 141 and a third robotic arm 142. The third workbench 141 is fixed to the third work station; the third robotic arm 142 is movably disposed on the third workbench 141. The third robotic arm 142 is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The third robotic arm 142 is used to grab the air valve from the transmission mechanism 110 and assemble the air valve to the air vent.

[0055] Understandably, the multi-degree-of-freedom third robotic arm 142 is directly mounted on the third worktable 141. The third robotic arm 142 can quickly grab the air valve from the transmission mechanism 110 and accurately install the air valve to the air inlet. Compared with manual installation, which requires repeatedly aligning the air valve with the air inlet and fixing it, the installation speed of the third robotic arm 142 is faster and more accurate, which helps to save manpower and improve the assembly accuracy of the air valve.

[0056] In addition, the third robotic arm 142 has multiple degrees of freedom, so it can handle air vents of different orientations and depths, and thus can be used with different types of distributors. Only the working parameters of the third robotic arm 142 need to be adjusted for different distributors, making it widely applicable.

[0057] In some embodiments, the vent and the water inlet are located on different sides of the distributor body. Therefore, after the second assembly unit 130 assembles the solenoid valve to the water inlet, the distributor body needs to be flipped so that the vent faces the third assembly unit 140 so that the third assembly unit 140 assembles the air valve to the vent.

[0058] Therefore, see Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, the assembly equipment 100 of this application embodiment also includes a flipping station located between the second station and the third station. The assembly equipment 100 also includes a flipping unit 150, which is used to flip the distributor body so that the third robotic arm 142 can assemble the air valve to the air inlet.

[0059] The flipping unit 150 includes a flipping worktable 151 and a flipping robotic arm 152. The flipping worktable 151 is fixed to the flipping station. The flipping robotic arm 152 is movably disposed on the flipping worktable 151 and is used to grab and flip the dispenser body from the transmission mechanism 110.

[0060] Thus, after the second assembly unit 130 assembles the solenoid valve to the water inlet, the flipping robotic arm 152 picks up the distributor body from the transmission mechanism 110 and flips it so that the air inlet faces upwards, so that the third robotic arm 142 can assemble the air valve. The flipping robotic arm 152 can flip the distributor body back to the transmission mechanism 110, which then transmits it to the third station, where the third robotic arm 142 assembles the air valve. Alternatively, since the distance between the flipping robotic arm 152 and the third robotic arm 142 is relatively short, after flipping the distributor body, the flipping robotic arm 152 can keep it stationary while the third robotic arm 142 assembles the air valve. After assembly, the resulting distributor is then placed back on the transmission mechanism 110. This embodiment does not limit this; the configuration can be reasonably adjusted based on the performance of the flipping robotic arm 152 and the third robotic arm 142.

[0061] See also some of the possible implementation methods. Figure 1 As shown, the assembly equipment 100 of this application embodiment is further provided with a detection station located downstream of the third station along the transmission direction of the transmission mechanism 110. The assembly equipment 100 also includes a material marking device 160 and a detection device 170. The material marking device 160 is used to mark the dispenser that has been assembled; the detection device 170 is used to perform quality detection on the marked dispenser to obtain the detection result, and to record the detection result into the detection system according to the marking of the dispenser.

[0062] Understandably, after the dispensers are assembled, the transfer mechanism 110 transports them to the inspection station. The material marking device 160 at the inspection station first marks each dispenser, for example, by painting a number or barcode on each dispenser. The specific method is not limited in this embodiment, as long as each dispenser has a different mark. Afterwards, the inspection device 170 can inspect whether the dispenser's sealing performance and other properties meet the standards, and record the inspection results into the inspection system based on the aforementioned markings. This allows the inspection system to quickly screen out unqualified dispensers.

[0063] For example, a display screen can also be set up to show the number of the unqualified distributors. This way, when the staff is unloading materials, they can quickly remove the unqualified distributors according to the number, thereby improving the unloading efficiency of the distributors and ensuring that the staff can remove the unqualified distributors in a timely manner, which is conducive to ensuring the overall yield rate of the water heater production system.

[0064] See also some of the possible implementation methods. Figure 1 As shown, the assembly equipment 100 in this embodiment of the application also includes a material transfer device 180, which is used to transfer the distributor after detection by the detection device 170 to the loading station.

[0065] In some embodiments, after the distributor is transferred to the loading station, the operator can remove the distributor and simultaneously load the distributor body, sealing ring, and air valve to the loading station. In this way, the loading and unloading work can be completed by the same operator at the same time, without the need for additional manpower, which helps to further improve the overall assembly efficiency of the distributor.

[0066] See also some of the possible implementation methods. Figure 1 and Figure 4As shown, the transmission mechanism 110 of this application embodiment includes a frame 111 and a transport component. The transport component includes a movable body and a carrier. The movable body is movably disposed on the frame 111, and the carrier is disposed on the movable body to move with the movable body. The carrier is used to place materials. There are two transport components, namely an assembly-side transport component 112 and a return-side transport component 113. The assembly-side transport component 112 passes through a first station, a second station, and a third station in sequence to assemble the distributor. The return-side transport component 113 is used to receive the distributor from the material transfer device 180 and transfer it to the loading station.

[0067] In practical implementation, the assembly-side transport component 112 and the return-side transport component 113 can be arranged at intervals in the vertical direction. This ensures that the assembly-side transport component 112 and the return-side transport component 113 do not interfere with each other during transmission, thus ensuring smooth material transport. It also helps ensure that workers can simultaneously access both the assembly-side transport component 112 and the return-side transport component 113, completing the unloading of the assembled distributor while loading materials at the loading station. This further saves manpower and improves assembly efficiency.

[0068] Furthermore, the parallel operation of the assembly-side transport component 112 and the return-side transport component 113 creates a closed loop for material circulation. The assembly-side transport component 112 uses a carrier to carry materials through the first, second, and third workstations to complete the assembly of the distributor. The material transfer device 180 transfers the distributor to the return-side transport component 113, which simultaneously picks up the completed distributor from the material transfer device 180 and sends it back to the loading station. The empty carrier is then immediately put back into the assembly side. The entire process requires no manual handling, has a compact cycle time, and high site utilization. It also helps to avoid empty travel caused by single-line round trips, thereby increasing the actual production capacity of the assembly equipment 100.

[0069] See also some of the possible implementation methods. Figure 1 As shown, the assembly equipment 100 of this application embodiment also includes a sorting device (not shown in the figure), which picks out dispensers with unqualified test results based on the test results in the test system.

[0070] The sorting device can be located downstream of the detection device 170. After detection, the sorting device picks out unqualified dispensers from the assembly-side transport component 112 based on the markings on the dispensers. Alternatively, the sorting device can be located upstream of the loading station to pick out unqualified dispensers from the return-side transport component 113. This embodiment does not limit this, as long as the unqualified dispensers are picked out before being transported back to the loading station. Furthermore, compared to manually screening unqualified dispensers, using a sorting device to pick out unqualified dispensers further saves manpower, improves sorting efficiency, and helps ensure sorting accuracy.

[0071] Furthermore, two transport components are vertically spaced on the frame 111. The material transfer device 180 includes a first transfer device 181 and a second transfer device 182. The first transfer device 181 is located downstream of the detection device 170 to transfer the distributor on the assembly-side transport component 112 to the return-side transport component 113. The second transfer device 182 is located upstream of the loading station to transfer the distributor on the return-side transport component 113 to the loading station.

[0072] Specifically, the first transfer device 181 transfers the carrier carrying the distributor to the moving body of the return material side transport component 113. The carrier moves with the moving body to the second transfer device 182, which transfers the carrier to the moving body of the assembly side transport component 112, thereby transferring the distributor to the loading station. While the worker takes out the distributor, he loads the distributor body, sealing ring, air valve and other materials onto the carrier, thereby carrying out the assembly work of the next distributor, thus realizing the efficient assembly and unloading of the distributor.

[0073] The specific structures of the carrier and the moving body are not limited in this embodiment. For example, the moving body can be a roller, the carrier can be a transport plate mounted on the roller, and the first transfer device 181 and the second transfer device 182 are elevators. The roller rotates to drive the carrier to move. When the transport plate of the assembly side transport component 112 moves to the first transfer device 181, the first transfer device 181 drives the transport plate to descend and transfer it to the roller of the return material side transport component 113. The roller drives the transport plate back to the upstream side of the loading station. The second transfer device 182 drives the transport plate to rise and return it to the roller of the assembly side transport component 112. This realizes the circulation of the assembly parts in the two transport components, which is beneficial to shorten the lateral footprint of the assembly equipment 100 while ensuring continuous assembly cycle and improving the assembly efficiency of the distributor.

[0074] See Figure 1 As shown in the figure, this application embodiment also provides a water heater production system, including assembly equipment 100 for any of the above-mentioned water heater distribution equipment.

[0075] The structure and working principle of the assembly equipment 100 for the water heater distributor have been described in detail in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0076] In this embodiment of the application, the assembly equipment 100 for water heater distributors described above is beneficial to improve the overall assembly efficiency of the water heater production system, save labor costs, and thus save on the production cost and yield of water heaters.

[0077] In summary, the water heater distributor assembly equipment 100 provided in this application embodiment first loads the distributor body, sealing ring, and air valve onto the carrier of the assembly-side transport component 112 at the loading station; the moving body drives the carrier to move, transporting the materials to the first station, where the first assembly unit 120 assembles the sealing ring onto the water inlet of the distributor body; after the materials are transported to the second station, the second assembly unit 130 picks up the solenoid valve and assembles it onto the water inlet, and then the materials are flipped by the flipping robot arm 152 at the flipping station so that the air inlet faces upward; the materials are then transported to the third station, where the third assembly unit 140 assembles the air valve onto the air inlet to obtain the distributor. The distributor is then transported to the inspection station, where a material marking device 160 marks the distributor, and an inspection device 170 performs quality inspection and records the results into the inspection system based on the markings. After inspection, a sorting device removes unqualified distributors based on the results. The distributor is then transported to a first transfer device 181, which lowers the carrier and its distributors onto the moving part of the return-side transport assembly 113, thus transporting the distributors to a second transfer device 182. The second transfer device 182 raises the carrier and its distributors onto the assembly-side transport assembly 112, returning the carrier to the loading station. Workers remove the distributors to complete the unloading process and simultaneously load new materials onto the carrier for the next round of assembly. Thus, the entire distributor assembly process is completed manually at the loading station; all other operations are fully automated, improving the automation level of the assembly equipment 100, saving manpower, increasing the assembly efficiency of the distributors, and consequently improving the production efficiency of the water heater.

[0078] The technical solutions of this application have been described above with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it is readily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of protection of this application is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application and are not intended to limit them. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features therein. These modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. An assembly device for a water heater distributor, characterized in that, include: The conveying mechanism (110) is used to convey materials. Along the conveying direction of the conveying mechanism (110), the assembly equipment (100) is provided with a feeding station, a first station, a second station and a third station in sequence. The feeding station is used to feed the distributor body, sealing ring and air valve of the distributor. A first assembly unit (120) is provided at the first work station. The first assembly unit (120) is used to assemble the sealing ring to the water inlet of the distributor body. The second assembly unit (130) is located at the second work station and is used to assemble the solenoid valve of the distributor to the water inlet. The third assembly unit (140) is located at the third work station and is used to assemble the air valve to the air inlet of the distributor body.

2. The assembly equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first assembly unit (120) includes: The first workbench (121) is fixed to the first workstation; The first robotic arm (122) is movably mounted on the first workbench (121). The first robotic arm (122) is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The first robotic arm (122) is used to grab the sealing ring from the transmission mechanism (110) and assemble the sealing ring to the water inlet.

3. The assembly equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The second assembly unit (130) includes: The second workbench (131) is fixed to the second work station; Feeding platform (132), the feeding platform (132) is located at the second work station and is distributed on opposite sides of the transmission mechanism (110) with the second worktable (131). The feeding platform (132) is used to place the solenoid valve to be installed. The second robotic arm (133) is movably mounted on the second workbench (131). The second robotic arm (133) is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The second robotic arm (133) is used to grab the solenoid valve from the feeding table (132) and assemble the solenoid valve to the water inlet.

4. The assembly equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that, The distributor body is provided with multiple water inlets, and the sealing ring and the solenoid valve are each corresponding to one of the water inlets; The second assembly unit (130) is a plurality of units corresponding one-to-one with the water inlet. The plurality of second assembly units (130) are arranged along the transmission direction of the transmission mechanism (110). Each second assembly unit (130) is used to assemble the corresponding solenoid valve to the corresponding water inlet.

5. The assembly equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The third assembly unit (140) includes: The third workbench (141) is fixed to the third work station; The third robotic arm (142) is movably mounted on the third workbench (141). The third robotic arm (142) is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The third robotic arm (142) is used to grab the air valve from the transmission mechanism (110) and assemble the air valve to the air inlet.

6. The assembly equipment according to claim 5, characterized in that, The vent and the water inlet are located on different sides of the distributor body. The assembly equipment (100) also has a flipping station located between the second station and the third station. The assembly equipment (100) also includes: A flipping unit (150) is used to flip the dispenser body so that the third robotic arm (142) can assemble the air valve to the vent. The flipping unit (150) includes: A flipping worktable (151) is fixed to the flipping station; A flipping robotic arm (152) is movably mounted on the flipping worktable (151) and is used to grab and flip the dispenser body from the transmission mechanism (110).

7. The assembly equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The assembly equipment (100) is also provided with a detection station located downstream of the third station along the transmission direction of the transmission mechanism (110). The assembly equipment (100) also includes: Material marking device (160) for marking the dispenser after assembly; The detection device (170) is used to perform quality detection on the marked dispenser to obtain the detection result, and to record the detection result into the detection system according to the marking of the dispenser.

8. The assembly equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The assembly equipment (100) also includes a material transfer device (180), which is used to transfer the distributor after being detected by the detection device (170) to the loading station.

9. The assembly equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that, The transmission mechanism (110) includes: Rack (111); A transport assembly includes a movable body and a carrier body. The movable body is movably mounted on the frame (111), and the carrier body is mounted on the movable body to move with it. The carrier body is used to hold materials. Furthermore, there are two transport components, namely an assembly-side transport component (112) and a return-material transport component (113). The assembly-side transport component (112) passes through the first station, the second station and the third station in sequence to assemble the distributor. The return-material transport component (113) is used to receive the distributor from the material transfer device (180) and transfer it to the loading station.

10. The assembly equipment according to claim 9, characterized in that, The two transport components are arranged vertically at a distance from each other on the frame (111). The assembly equipment (100) also includes: The sorting device, based on the detection results in the detection system, picks out dispensers that are found to be defective. The material transfer device (180) includes: A first transfer device (181) is provided downstream of the detection device (170) to transfer the distributor on the assembly-side transport assembly (112) to the return-side transport assembly (113); A second transfer device (182) is located upstream of the loading station to transfer the distributor on the return side transport assembly (113) to the loading station.

11. A water heater production system, characterized in that, Includes the assembly equipment (100) as described in any one of claims 1-10.

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