Automatic insertion-based picking method and apparatus for reducing downtime

Abstract

The present invention provides an automatic insertion-based picking method for reducing downtime, comprising the following steps: S1, placing products in multiple layers within a material compartment; S2, starting a lifting mechanism to lift the products in the material compartment upward, and when the product on the top layer reaches a picking position, the lifting mechanism stopping lifting; S3, a raising / lowering assembly in a picking mechanism driving a suction assembly to lower to the picking position, and the suction assembly starting to suction the product on the top layer in the material compartment; and when the picking mechanism fails to perform normal picking due to an exception, automatically triggering a remedial action on the basis of the type of the exception to ensure normal picking; and S4, upon completion of a suction operation, the raising / lowering assembly driving the suction assembly to return to the original position, and transferring the suctioned product to a loading area. When normal picking cannot be performed due to an exception, a remedial action is automatically triggered on the basis of the type of the exception, ensuring continuous operation of a production line, and avoiding production interruption or downtime caused by a picking problem.

Description

Automatic plug-in reduces downtime of material taking method and device TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of display panels, and particularly relates to an automatic plug-in material taking method and device for reducing downtime. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the liquid crystal display panel detection industry, it is often necessary to light up the product before detection. This process often uses automatic pressure connection or automatic plug-in to connect and conduct electrical signals to the product to achieve lighting. Typical application scenarios include automatic plug-in U-FPC and FFC, which are flexible materials. When taking out products made of these flexible materials from the warehouse, abnormal alarms often occur. For example, when the suction cup cylinder is lowered, the material cannot be sensed, or the suction cup cylinder cannot be correctly lowered to the specified position. These problems seriously affect the stability and operating efficiency of the equipment.

[0003] The prior art usually installs a set of Z-axis at the bottom of the warehouse to lift the products in the warehouse upwards until the photoelectric sensor triggers into position. Subsequently, whenever the suction cup takes away a piece of product, the Z-axis will rise by a fixed height according to the set program to maintain the same height for each material taking. However, due to the warping and flexibility of the product, the height position sensed by the sensor may have errors. In addition, there is a tolerance in the thickness of the product, which will cause cumulative deviation. As the number of material taking increases, these deviations will gradually accumulate, eventually leading to material taking failure, i.e. the case of too high or too low product height. SUMMARY

[0004] To solve all or part of the problems of the above prior art, the present application provides an automatic plug-in material taking method and device for reducing downtime, which automatically triggers a remedial action according to the type of abnormality when an abnormal situation occurs and the material cannot be taken normally. This automatic correction mechanism ensures the continuous operation of the production line and avoids production interruption or downtime caused by material taking problems.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present application provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] An automatic plug-in downtime-reducing material taking method, comprising the following steps: S1. Placing a plurality of layers of products in a material bin; S2. Starting a jacking mechanism to jack up the products in the material bin upward, and stopping the jacking mechanism when the uppermost layer of the products reaches a material taking position; S3. Driving a lifting assembly in a material taking mechanism to lower a suction assembly to the material taking position, and starting the suction assembly to adsorb the uppermost layer of products in the material bin; when the material taking mechanism encounters an abnormal situation and cannot normally take the material, automatically triggering a remedial action according to the type of abnormality to ensure normal material taking; S4. After the adsorption operation is completed, driving the lifting assembly to raise the suction assembly to an original position, and transferring the adsorbed products to a material loading area.

[0007] In step S3, the types of abnormality include that the jacking mechanism jacks up excessively, causing the lifting assembly not to lower to the material taking position, and the suction assembly being unable to perform normal adsorption operation; and the jacking mechanism not jacking up to the material taking position, causing the suction assembly to be unable to adsorb the products.

[0008] When the lifting assembly does not lower to the material taking position, the remedial action one is triggered: waiting for 1-2 seconds, if the set position is still not reached, at this time, the jacking mechanism slowly lowers until the lifting assembly reaches the material taking position and stops, and the suction assembly performs the adsorption operation.

[0009] When the suction assembly does not adsorb the products, the remedial action two is triggered: the suction assembly continues to adsorb for 1-2 seconds, if the products are still not adsorbed, at this time, the jacking mechanism slowly jacks up the products in the material bin until the suction assembly adsorbs the products and stops, and the suction assembly performs the adsorption operation.

[0010] This automatic plug-in downtime-reducing material taking method significantly improves production efficiency and stability through automatic remedial actions. The system can automatically adjust when the lifting assembly fails to accurately lower or the suction assembly fails to successfully adsorb the products, ensuring smooth and continuous production. This not only reduces the need for operator intervention and human error, but also reduces equipment wear and maintenance costs, while improving product quality and consistency.

[0011] The present application also provides an automatic plug-in downtime-reducing material taking device, which takes material by using the above-mentioned material taking method, comprising: a material bin for containing products; a jacking mechanism for adjusting the height of the products in the material bin; a material taking mechanism for taking the products from the material bin and transferring them to a material loading area; and a control module for controlling and coordinating the operation of the jacking mechanism and the material taking mechanism.

[0012] The bunker comprises a bottom plate and four side plates, the edges of the four sides of the product are respectively attached to the four side plates, when the bunker is full, the position of the product on the uppermost layer is the taking position, a first through hole is arranged on one of the side plates at the taking position.

[0013] The taking device further comprises an induction assembly corresponding to the first through hole, for detecting whether there is product at the taking position of the bunker, the middle part of the product is soft, and the thickness of the two sides is fixed, the induction assembly detects the edge with fixed thickness of the product.

[0014] The jacking assembly comprises a driving assembly and a driving shaft, the driving assembly drives the driving shaft to make lifting motion, the top end of the driving shaft is provided with a top block, the bottom plate of the bunker is provided with a second through hole matched with the top block, and the top block jacks up the two side parts of the product through the second through hole.

[0015] The taking mechanism comprises a lifting assembly and a sucking assembly, the lifting assembly is used for driving the sucking assembly to the taking position of the bunker in the vertical direction, and the sucking assembly is used for sucking the product from the taking position.

[0016] The lifting assembly is provided with a first touch switch and a second touch switch, when the lifting assembly drives the sucking assembly to descend to the taking position, the second touch switch is touched, and when the lifting assembly rises back to the original position, the first touch switch is touched.

[0017] This automatic plugging reduces the downtime of the taking device, the bunker is designed well, the product is closely attached to the side plate, and the taking position is ensured to be accurate; the induction assembly effectively detects the existence of the product in the bunker, and avoids the empty taking condition. Secondly, the jacking mechanism comprises a driving assembly and a driving shaft, which can accurately control the lifting motion of the product, and the top block stabilizes the product through the second through hole matched with the bottom plate. The taking mechanism realizes vertical motion through the lifting assembly and the sucking assembly, and is provided with a touch switch to ensure the accuracy of operation. The whole is coordinated by the control module to improve the automation degree and operation efficiency of the production line.

[0018] The present application has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0019] 1) The taking method gives the equipment high intelligence. The equipment can automatically trigger corresponding remedial actions according to different abnormal alarm types, and gradually adjusts the process of jacking and sucking the product to ensure that the product is smoothly taken out. This automatic processing greatly reduces the need for human intervention, improves the self-operation ability and reliability of the equipment.

[0020] 2) Without changing the existing structure, the material taking failure is avoided by adjusting the action logic. The implementation of the remedial action does not depend on complex mechanical structure or excessive external intervention, but is realized by adjusting the logic and adjusting the internal control module. This simple and effective design not only reduces the cost of equipment maintenance and management, but also improves the applicability and ease of operation of the equipment in different production scenarios.

[0021] 3) The downtime of the equipment is greatly reduced, and the overall efficiency of the equipment is improved. In the traditional production process, material taking abnormity often leads to equipment downtime, which needs manual intervention for treatment, seriously affecting the production efficiency. The automatic remediation capability of the method can quickly respond and handle the material taking abnormity, greatly reducing the downtime, ensuring the continuity and stability of the production process, and effectively improving the production capacity and efficiency of the equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the specific embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor.

[0023] Fig. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a material taking device with automatic insertion and reduced downtime according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0024] Fig. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of the material taking mechanism when sucking FPC according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0025] Fig. 3 is a structural schematic diagram of the material taking mechanism when sucking FFC according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0026] Fig. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of the lifting assembly according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] Reference signs: 1 - hopper; 11 - first through hole; 2 - driving shaft; 31 - lifting assembly; 311 - first touch switch; 312 - second touch switch; 32 - suction assembly; 33 - rotating assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The technical solutions in the specific embodiments of the present application will be described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0029] In the embodiment of the present application, in combination with the drawings 1-4, an automatic plug-in reduction of downtime material taking device, comprising: bin 1, sensing assembly, jacking mechanism, taking mechanism and control module, through the accurate sensing and jacking mechanism adjustment, effectively from the bin 1 to take out the product, and safe transfer to the loading area, by the control module real-time monitoring and coordination of jacking and taking action, ensure the stability and efficiency of production process.

[0030] The bin 1 includes a bottom plate and four side plates for accommodating products, and the four edges of the products are respectively fitted with the four side plates. The products in the bin 1 are flexible printed circuit boards (FPC or FFC), the middle part of which is very soft, and the thickness of both sides is fixed. When the bin 1 is full, the product at the uppermost layer is in the taking position. A first through hole 11 is formed in the side plate on the side of the taking mechanism at the taking position. The sensing assembly is installed on the side edge of the side plate of the bin 1 and is aligned with the first through hole 11, for detecting whether there is a product at the taking position of the bin 1. In this embodiment, the sensing assembly is an optical sensor, which mainly detects the edge of the fixed thickness of the product such as FFC or FPC to confirm the presence and accurate position of the product.

[0031] The jacking assembly includes a driving assembly and a driving shaft 2, and the driving assembly drives the driving shaft 2 to make lifting movement. The top end of the driving shaft 2 is provided with a top block, and the bottom plate of the bin 1 is provided with a second through hole matched with the top block. The top block passes through the second through hole into the bin 1 and acts on the product at the bottom layer in the bin 1 to perform the jacking operation, so that the product at the top layer in the bin 1 reaches the taking position. During the operation, when all the products in the bin 1 are taken away, the top block will be lowered and withdrawn from the bin 1 and the second through hole, in order to prepare to accept new products.

[0032] The taking mechanism includes a lifting assembly 31 and a suction assembly 32 equipped with a suction cup for precise product taking and transfer to the feeding area from the hopper 1. The suction cup is connected with a vacuum gauge for real-time monitoring of the suction force range and strength generated by the suction cup to determine whether it is adsorbed to the product. The lifting assembly 31 drives the suction assembly 32 in the vertical direction to ensure that it accurately reaches the taking position of the hopper 1. The top of the lifting assembly 31 is equipped with a first touch switch 311 and a second touch switch 312, which play a key control role in operation. The operation process is as follows: when the lifting assembly 31 lowers the suction assembly 32 to the taking position of the hopper 1, the second touch switch 312 is triggered, indicating that the suction operation is ready. Subsequently, the suction assembly 32 uses its adsorption function to precisely suck the product from the top layer of the hopper 1. Once the product is successfully sucked, the lifting assembly 31 begins to rise and triggers the first touch switch 311, indicating that the product has been successfully extracted and is ready to be moved to the feeding area. In addition to the lifting and suction functions, the taking mechanism is also equipped with a rotating assembly 33, which mainly functions to precisely transfer the product taken from the hopper 1 to the feeding area. Through precise control, the rotating assembly 33 ensures the stability and accuracy of the product position during the transfer process to meet the needs of subsequent processes.

[0033] The control module is responsible for coordinating and managing the operation of the sensing assembly, the jacking mechanism, and the taking mechanism. Its main functions include real-time monitoring of the signals of the sensing assembly to determine whether there is a product in the hopper 1 that needs to be taken out. The sensing assembly informs the control module of the position and state of the product through feedback signals. When the product needs to be taken out, the control module immediately controls the action of the jacking mechanism to ensure that the jacking block can accurately jack up or put down the product. The precise control of the jacking mechanism is the key to ensuring that the product is not damaged during the taking process. Once the product is jacked to the taking position, the control module immediately coordinates the action of the taking mechanism to ensure that the suction assembly 32 accurately takes the product from the hopper 1. In addition, the control module also needs to process and optimize the time and efficiency of the entire taking process. It may adjust the jacking speed, the timing of the suction action, and the transfer speed of the rotating assembly 33 according to real-time conditions to ensure that the entire operation process is efficient and accurate. At the same time, the control module may communicate with other parts of the automation system or the host computer to obtain more production data or make further optimization adjustments.

[0034] The present application also provides an automatic plug-in method for reducing downtime of a taking mechanism, which is applied to the taking device described above and specifically includes the following steps:

[0035] S1. Place the product in multiple layers in the hopper 1 to ensure that the products are arranged neatly to facilitate subsequent taking operations;

[0036] S2. After the product is placed, the jacking mechanism is started to lift the product in the hopper 1 layer by layer upwards. When the uppermost layer of product reaches the preset picking position, the sensing assembly detects the position of the product and sends a signal to the control module. After receiving the signal, the control module instructs the jacking mechanism to stop lifting operation, ensuring that the product is accurately stopped at the picking position;

[0037] S3. The control module sends instructions to the picking mechanism to drive the lifting assembly 31 to accurately descend to the picking position. The lifting assembly 31 is equipped with a second touch switch 312. When the touch signal is detected, the suction assembly 32 starts to adsorb the uppermost product in the hopper 1.

[0038] S4. After the adsorption operation is completed, the lifting assembly 31 drives the suction assembly 32 to rise to the original position. When the first touch switch 311 of the lifting assembly 31 is triggered, the rotating assembly 33 of the picking mechanism starts to transfer the adsorbed product from the hopper 1 position to the feeding area. After each picking operation is completed, the system will restart the next picking task.

[0039] In step S3, when the picking mechanism encounters an abnormal situation and cannot normally pick, a remedial action is automatically triggered according to the type of abnormality to ensure normal picking.

[0040] If the type of abnormality is that the lifting assembly 31 does not descend to the picking position, and the second touch switch 312 is not triggered, remedial action one is triggered: the lifting assembly 31 waits for 1-2 seconds. If it still does not reach the set position, it indicates that the jacking mechanism has lifted the product in the hopper 1 above the picking position. At this time, the jacking mechanism slowly descends until the lifting assembly 31 stops at the picking position, and then the suction assembly 32 performs the adsorption operation.

[0041] If the type of abnormality is that the lifting assembly 31 descends to the picking position, but the suction assembly 32 does not adsorb the product, remedial action two is triggered: the suction assembly 32 continues to adsorb for 1-2 seconds. If the vacuum gauge shows that the adsorption value is very small and the product is still not adsorbed, it indicates that the product in the hopper 1 has not been lifted to the picking position. At this time, the jacking mechanism slowly lifts the product in the hopper 1 until the suction assembly 32 adsorbs the product, and then the suction assembly 32 performs the adsorption operation.

[0042] The application provides a kind of automatic plug-in reduces the material taking device of downtime and its operating method, by the synergistic effect of inductive assembly, jacking mechanism and material taking mechanism, full automation operation is realized, manual intervention is reduced, and production efficiency is improved.Control module monitors material taking process in real time, adjusts jacking and material taking operation in real time according to feedback signal, and ensures smooth operation.The system has an abnormal processing mechanism, and automatically triggers a remedial action, significantly reducing downtime.Through quick response and accurate execution of remedial action, it can effectively prevent the expansion of equipment failure and product damage, thereby improving the continuous operation capacity of production line and product quality.Modular design and intelligent communication function enhance the stability, reliability and adaptability of the system, adapt to diversified product demand and different production line requirements, thereby effectively improving production efficiency, reducing equipment downtime, protecting product integrity, meeting the demand of modern industry for automation and efficient operation.

[0043] It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present application, the present application can be improved and modified in several ways, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the scope of protection of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for automatically plugging a lowered outage material taking, characterized in that, The method comprises the following steps: S1. Place the product multi-layer stack in the hopper (1); S2. The lifting mechanism is started, and the product in the hopper (1) is lifted upwards. When the uppermost product reaches the material taking position, the lifting mechanism stops lifting; S3. The lifting assembly (31) in the material taking mechanism drives the suction assembly (32) to descend to the material taking position. The suction assembly (32) starts to adsorb the uppermost product in the hopper (1). When the material taking mechanism encounters an abnormal situation and cannot take material normally, a remedial action is automatically triggered according to the type of abnormality to ensure normal material taking; S4. After the adsorption operation is completed, the lifting assembly (31) drives the suction assembly (32) to rise back to the original position and transfers the adsorbed product to the feeding area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, In step S3, the abnormal types include that the lifting mechanism lifts excessively, causing the lifting assembly (31) to not descend to the material taking position, and the suction assembly (32) cannot perform normal adsorption operation; and the lifting mechanism does not lift to the material taking position, causing the suction assembly (32) to not adsorb to the product.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, When the lifting assembly (31) does not descend to the material taking position, the remedial action one is triggered: waiting for 1-2 seconds. If it still does not reach the set position, the lifting mechanism slowly descends until the lifting assembly (31) reaches the material taking position and stops, and the suction assembly (32) performs the adsorption operation.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein, When the suction assembly (32) does not adsorb to the product, the remedial action two is triggered: the suction assembly (32) continues to adsorb for 1-2 seconds. If it still does not adsorb to the product, the lifting mechanism slowly lifts the product in the hopper (1) until the suction assembly (32) adsorbs to the product and stops, and the suction assembly (32) performs the adsorption operation.

5. A pick-up device for automatic plug-in reduction of downtime, by using the pick-up method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, It comprises: The hopper (1) is used to accommodate the product; the lifting mechanism is used to adjust the height of the product in the hopper (1); The material taking mechanism is used to take the product from the hopper (1) and transfer it to the feeding area; the control module is used to control and coordinate the operation of the lifting mechanism and the material taking mechanism.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein, The hopper (1) comprises a bottom plate and four side plates. The edges of the four sides of the product respectively fit the four side plates. When the hopper (1) is full, the position of the product located at the uppermost layer is the material taking position. A first through hole (11) is formed in a side plate at the material taking position.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein, The material taking device further comprises a sensing assembly corresponding to the first through hole (11) and used to detect whether there is a product at the material taking position of the hopper (1); the middle part of the product is soft, and the thickness of the two sides is fixed. The sensing assembly detects the edge with fixed thickness.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein, The lifting assembly comprises a driving assembly and a driving shaft (2). The driving assembly drives the driving shaft (2) to perform lifting movement. The top end of the driving shaft (2) is provided with a top block. The bottom plate of the hopper (1) is provided with a second through hole matched with the top block. The top block lifts the two side parts of the product through the second through hole.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein, The taking mechanism comprises a lifting assembly (31) and a suction assembly (32), the lifting assembly (31) is used for driving the suction assembly (32) to a taking position of the bin (1) in the vertical direction, and the suction assembly (32) is used for sucking the product from the taking position.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, The lifting assembly (31) is provided with a first touch switch (311) and a second touch switch (312), when the lifting assembly (31) drives the suction assembly (32) to descend to the taking position, the second touch switch (312) is touched, and when the lifting assembly (31) rises back to the original position, the first touch switch (311) is touched.

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