CN110775601A

CN110775601A - Pipeline feeding and discharging system and method

Info

Publication number: CN110775601A
Application number: CN201910644953.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王冈凌
Original assignee: Kader Co ltd
Current assignee: Kader Co ltd
Priority date: 2018-07-31
Filing date: 2019-07-17
Publication date: 2020-02-11
Also published as: TWI656081B; TW202007618A

Abstract

The invention discloses a pipeline feeding and discharging system and a method, which are used for simultaneously receiving a plurality of materials from a first pipeline or simultaneously receiving a plurality of materials and moving the materials to a second pipeline, wherein each material has an inner space. This pipeline extracting device contains: a fixing frame for fixing a plurality of receiving devices; a lifting displacement mechanism for lifting the height of the fixing frame and displacing the position of the fixing frame; a controller for controlling the plurality of access devices to synchronously execute an access action or a release action. The controller controls each receiving device to execute the receiving action or the releasing action in the inner space of each material piece.

Description

Pipeline feeding and discharging system and method

Technical Field

The invention relates to a pipeline feeding and discharging system and a method, in particular to a device and a method for receiving a large number of materials at one time from a pipeline or a conveyer belt, wherein the materials particularly refer to a structure with a container function.

Background

With the development of industry 4.0, the labor input of the production line is gradually reduced, and a large number of automatic machines are replaced. The precision and optimization of the various actions does contribute to the reduction of production costs. Therefore, automated design of the production line is important. Good design, including software control and various hardware arrangements, can not only increase the production capacity, but also maintain the production line smoothness for a long time. In addition, a good design can cope with various unexpected situations, such as defects in the processing of the parts in the production line.

For the cleaning or stacking storage of large baskets, such as the delivery baskets of convenience stores, it is current practice for the operator to collect the stack of used delivery baskets to a cleaning plant and to clean the delivery baskets in a semi-automatic manner. However, as the societal habits of eating outside have increased, the number of delivery baskets retrieved from convenience stores has increased significantly. Semi-automatic cleaning plants and scarce human resources will not be able to cope with larger cleaning operations. In particular, defects (such as deformation and breakage) caused by the goods conveying basket in the using process further enable the smoothness of the production line to be tested. This is because the unexpectedly deformed piece may be out of the mechanical reach, resulting in the piece not being able to advance smoothly, which usually must be cleared by experienced operators. The production line has an inlet end and an outlet end, wherein the action of the inlet end is critical. First, the rate of feed is one of the factors in increasing capacity, which can generally be evaluated by substantially inputting the number of pieces per unit time. Secondly, the consistency of the fed parts also determines whether the machine or the operator has to pay extra time to perform the corrective action, ensuring that each part is transported in the production line within the tolerance of the individual machine tools. For example, the delivery baskets of the convenience stores are generally recycled to the cleaning plant in a stacked manner, and the stacked structure often fails to exhibit an ideal stacking form due to defects of the delivery baskets. In the current practice, the throughput is difficult to be increased by stacking the working lines.

Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and method for effectively increasing the feeding speed and smoothness, especially for the feeding manner of the above-mentioned stacked structure. In addition, it is necessary to design a system that includes such feeding means and discharging means that can cooperate with each other.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a pipeline feeding and discharging system which comprises a pipeline, a first material taking device, a second material taking device and a controller. The pipeline is provided with an inlet and an outlet, a feeding area and a discharging area are arranged between the inlet and the outlet, each trolley is used for bearing a plurality of stacks of material pieces, and each material piece is provided with an inner space; the first material taking device comprises a plurality of receiving devices and synchronously lifts and displaces the plurality of receiving devices; the second material taking device comprises a plurality of receiving devices and synchronously lifts and displaces the plurality of receiving devices; a controller controls a plurality of the access devices of the first material taking device and the second material taking device to execute an access action or a release action; after the first material taking device synchronously ascends, descends and displaces the plurality of receiving devices to the feeding area, the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the first material taking device to synchronously receive a plurality of to-be-processed materials from a plurality of stacked materials; after the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the second material taking device to synchronously receive the processed plurality of materials, the second material taking device synchronously ascends, descends and displaces the plurality of receiving devices to the discharging area, and the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the second material taking device to synchronously release the processed plurality of materials to the plurality of stacked materials.

In an embodiment, after the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the second material taking device to synchronously receive the processed plurality of pieces, the second material taking device synchronously lifts and displaces the plurality of receiving devices to the discharging area, and the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the second material taking device to synchronously release the processed plurality of pieces to the plurality of stacked pieces.

In one embodiment, the system further comprises a first collating device disposed between the inlet of the pipeline and the feeding zone to stack a plurality of said parts carried by the trolley in order.

In one embodiment, the first collating device has a plurality of movable portions, and at least one movable portion is pivotable relative to another movable portion.

In one embodiment, the first arranging device has a plurality of movable portions, and the plurality of movable portions are configured to surround a stacking structure of a plurality of pieces, so that the pieces carried by the trolley are stacked in order.

In one embodiment, the feed zone is provided with a second collating device configured to hold stacks carried by side-by-side trolleys in the feed zone.

In one embodiment, the system further comprises a discharge platform disposed between the discharge region of the pipeline and a discharge pipeline, the discharge platform being provided with a plurality of restraining mechanisms, two adjacent restraining mechanisms defining a retention area for a single processed workpiece to be retained.

In one embodiment, the blanking platform includes a third arranging device configured to arrange the spacing between the processed pieces in the stopping area, so that the second material taking device can be lifted and displaced synchronously to the blanking platform to take the processed pieces synchronously.

In one embodiment, the system further includes a pushing mechanism having a pushing arm, disposed on the other side of the discharging pipeline relative to the discharging platform, for pushing the processed multiple pieces from the discharging pipeline to multiple staying areas of the discharging platform synchronously to wait for the multiple receiving devices of the second material-taking device to receive the processed multiple pieces.

In one embodiment, the first material taking device places the plurality of the materials to be processed, which are received by the plurality of the receiving devices, on a feeding pipeline, and the plurality of the materials which are processed are placed on a discharging pipeline before the plurality of the receiving devices of the second material taking device are not received, wherein a processing device is arranged between the feeding pipeline and the discharging pipeline.

In one embodiment, the system further comprises a collecting container disposed between the feeding area and a feeding pipeline of the pipeline, the first material taking device synchronously lifts and displaces the plurality of material pieces to be processed received by the plurality of receiving devices to the upper part of the collecting container, and tilts the plurality of material pieces to be processed to dump the impurities in the inner space to the collecting container.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method of in-line feeding comprising: pushing a plurality of stacks from an inlet to a feed zone by a pipeline, each stack comprising a plurality of pieces to be processed, each piece having an interior space; arranging each of the plurality of stacks at the entrance by a first arranging device so that the stacks are orderly; arranging a plurality of said stacks in alignment in said feed zone by a second arranging means; and a plurality of receiving devices of a first material taking device are used for receiving a plurality of materials from a plurality of stacks of the feeding area and displacing the materials to a feeding pipeline.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: before the plurality of material parts are moved to the feeding pipeline, the first material taking device inclines the plurality of material parts to be processed so as to dump the sundries in the inner space to a collecting container.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: each stack before entering the first sorting device is detected by a detection means and a detection signal is generated to determine whether to allow one or more stacks to enter the first sorting device.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: each receiving device of the first material taking device executes a receiving action from the inner space of the corresponding material piece.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for discharging a pipeline, comprising: pushing a plurality of stacks from a discharge area to an outlet from a pipeline, each stack comprising a plurality of processed parts, each part having an interior space; pushing the processed materials into a plurality of stay areas of a blanking platform from a blanking pipeline by a pushing mechanism with a pushing arm; and a plurality of receiving devices of a second material taking device are used for receiving a plurality of processed materials from a plurality of stopping areas of the blanking platform and shifting the plurality of materials to a plurality of stacks of the discharging area.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: each receiving device of the second material taking device executes a receiving action from the inner space of the corresponding material piece.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: the pushing arm is provided with a plurality of releasing railings which sequentially block a plurality of materials pushed by the blanking pipeline, each material is aligned to the corresponding stopping area of the blanking platform, and each material is synchronously pushed into the corresponding stopping area by the pushing arm.

In one embodiment, the blanking platform is disposed between the discharge section of the pipeline and the blanking pipeline, the blanking platform is provided with a plurality of limiting mechanisms, and two adjacent limiting mechanisms define a stopping area for a single processed material to stop.

Drawings

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will become further apparent from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a feed and discharge (charge and discharge for short) system of the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a stacked structure of a plurality of baskets.

Fig. 3 illustrates a stack of two baskets.

Fig. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a single basket.

Fig. 5A and 5C show schematic diagrams of a first collating device in the feeding and discharging system of the present invention.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a second collating device in the feeding and discharging system of the present invention.

Fig. 7 shows a partial perspective view of a take off device in the feed and discharge system of the present invention.

Fig. 8 shows a pick-up mode of the pick-up apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 9 illustrates a blanking device in the feeding and discharging system of the present invention.

Fig. 10 shows a partial feature of the blanking device.

Fig. 11 is a flow chart of the charging and discharging system of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a flow diagram of a material extracting apparatus of the present invention.

The reference numbers are as follows:

100 feeding and discharging system

110 processing equipment

101 inlet

140 controller

102 outlet port

150 first collating unit

103 line

200 stack structure

1031 feed zone

202 trolley

1032 discharge zone

300 stack

120 material loading pipeline

400 goods basket

121 first material taking device

401 inner space

122 collection container

402 bottom

130 material pipeline

403A, 403B side edge

131 second material taking device

132 push-out mechanism

133 blanking platform

501 first movable part

900 unloading platform

502 second movable part

901 slope

503 third movable part

902 roller

504 fourth movable part

903 blocking mechanism

505 sort location

904 limiting mechanism

600 second collating unit

905 gap

700 holder

1000 third finishing device

701 Beam

S1100-S1110

702 connection structure

S1200-S1206 steps

703 connecting device

7031 holding finger

800 brace arm

801 goods delivery basket

802 internal hollow parts

Detailed Description

In the following detailed description of various exemplary embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. And is shown by way of illustration, by which various embodiments described may be practiced. Sufficient detail is provided to enable those skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized, and that other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, references to "an embodiment" do not necessarily pertain to the same or a singular embodiment, although they may. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various described embodiments is defined only by the appended claims.

Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the term "or" is an inclusive "or" usage and is equivalent to the term "and/or" unless explicitly stated otherwise. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the word "based on" is not exclusive and allows for the basis of many other factors that are not recited. In addition, the meaning of "a", "an" and "the" in the entire application includes plural references. The meaning of "in …" includes "in …" and "on …".

The following presents a simplified summary of various subject matter in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects. This brief description is not intended as a complete overview. This brief description is not intended to be used to identify key or critical elements or to delineate or otherwise narrow the scope. Its purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

Fig. 1 illustrates a feeding and discharging system 100 according to the present invention, which is connected to a processing apparatus 110 for supplying a material to be processed to the processing apparatus and receiving the processed material in a pipeline manner. Thus, if centered on the processing tool 110, the system 100 may be further divided into separate line feed and line discharge systems (ends). For example, the processing equipment 110 is a cleaning equipment dedicated to cleaning a specific container. The following description will be primarily directed to a convenience store delivery basket, but it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the illustrated item, and that similar or other items are contemplated by the invention. The feed and discharge system 100 has an inlet 101, an outlet 102, and lines or belts 103 extending between the inlet and outlet. The pipeline as described herein generally refers to a mechanical transport mechanism having propulsion provided substantially in one direction. Line 103 extends substantially from the feed system to the discharge system and defines a feed zone 1031 in the feed system and a discharge zone 1032 in the discharge system. When feeding, the baskets to be treated will be collected in the feeding zone 1031 in a pipeline fashion waiting to be picked up. Upon discharge, the processed baskets are collected in discharge section 1032 in a pipeline waiting to be advanced to outlet 102.

The feeding end of the feeding and discharging system 100 includes a feeding pipeline 120 and a first material taking device 121, and the discharging end includes a discharging pipeline 130 and a second material taking device 131, wherein the first material taking device 121 and the second material taking device 131 are respectively a pipeline material taking device capable of simultaneously taking a plurality of materials, and in the embodiment, a delivery basket is taken as an example. The plurality of baskets of the feeding zone 1031 are transferred to the feeding line 120 via the first take off device 121. The cleaned and treated baskets are transported by the blanking line 130 and finally transferred by the second take off device 131 to the discharge area 1032. In different embodiments, the feeding line 120 and the discharging line 130 can be connected to form a single line or different lines, depending on whether the feeding speeds of the two lines are the same. The first material taking device 121 and the second material taking device 131 comprise a multi-axis robot arm for receiving commands, the robot arm can simultaneously take a plurality of materials and horizontally move left and right or vertically move the plurality of materials, and if necessary, the plurality of materials can even be inclined. The first material taking device 121 and the second material taking device 131 have a maximum grabbing unit, which refers to the maximum number of the material pieces that can be grabbed when the first material taking device 121 or the second material taking device 131 performs a grabbing (or receiving) action. The maximum grabbing unit is related to the capacity of the feeding and discharging system 100 for handling the material, and the material fetching device provided by the invention can not only transfer a large amount of material in pipeline processing, but also ensure the success rate of grabbing (or taking) and releasing the material.

The discharge end of the feeding and discharging system 100 also includes a pushing mechanism 132 configured to move the processed baskets out of the blanking line 130, the moved baskets to a blanking platform 133 waiting to be transferred by the second reclaimer 131 to the discharge section 1032 of the line 103. The baskets are stacked in the outfeed section 1032 and then transported via line 103 to the outlet 102. A controller 140 may be communicatively coupled to the first and second extracting

devices

121, 131 and the ejection mechanism 132 to control the operational processes associated therewith.

Preferably, the maximum gripping unit of the first taking device 121 and the second taking device 131 determines the loading capacity of the feeding zone 1031 and the discharging zone 1032, i.e. the number of stacking structures for placing the material pieces. For example, if the maximum grabbing unit of the first material taking device 121 and the second material taking device 131 is N, the feeding area 1031 and the discharging area 1032 can load a maximum of N material stacking structures, wherein each material stacking structure has the same height, which is the stackable number of the material stacking structures. Therefore, the first material taking device 121 takes the top N pieces to be processed simultaneously from the N pieces stacking structure of the feeding zone 1031 at a time, and the second material taking device 131 takes the N processed pieces to be placed at the top position of the N pieces stacking structure of the discharging zone 1032. Preferably, the conveying unit of the feeding pipeline 120 and the discharging pipeline 130 corresponds to the maximum grabbing unit, that is, the conveying amount of the feeding pipeline 120 entering the processing equipment 110 at a time is N pieces, and the conveying amount of the discharging pipeline 130 being removed at a time is also N pieces. Therefore, the lengths of the feeding line 120 and the discharging line 130 are designed to be considered together. Likewise, the length design of feed zone 1031 and discharge zone 1032 for line 103 may also be considered.

Since each stack of parts is carried on the pipeline 103 by a trolley 202, see fig. 2. Therefore, in consideration of the above design, the length of the feeding zone 1031 and the discharging zone 1032 needs to accommodate N trolleys 202 to carry N stacking structures of the parts. When the first material taking device 121 has taken all the parts in the feeding zone 1031, the N empty trolleys 202 will be moved out of the feeding zone 1031 together along the line 103. Thereafter, N empty trolleys 202 will be moved together along line 103 into outfeed section 1032 in preparation for carrying N processed parts at a time by second reclaimer assembly 131, stacked on N trolleys 202 to form N part stacks. Finally, the N stacks of processed articles are moved together out of outfeed section 1032 by the N trolleys 202 and advanced to exit 102. Preferably, a buffer zone will be provided between the feed 1031 and discharge 1032 of line 103, the length of which buffer zone is designed to be a multiple of the N trolleys 202, so that the present system moves N empty trolleys 202 from the feed 1031 into the buffer zone at a time in the transfer of line 103. The pipeline 103 then transports N empty trolleys 202 at a time from the buffer into the outfeed zone 1032. The trolley is illustrated as an example, but other alternatives are possible to those skilled in the art. For example, a pallet structure capable of carrying a stack of baskets may be employed, or other means of carrying that may be compatible with the type of pipeline.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the line 103 is also provided with a first collating device 150 adjacent the inlet 101. The first arranging device 150 is disposed on the pipeline 103, and when the trolley 160 of the stacked delivery basket is driven to slide to the first arranging device 150 along the pipeline 103, the first arranging device 150 can be used for arranging the stacked structures, so as to ensure that the stacked structures are well arranged, and prevent the stacked structures from being inclined and not beneficial to the receiving of the first material taking device 121. The finishing mechanism required by the present invention is important, which relates to the smoothness of the feeding process. For example, recycled baskets may have various structural defects that may affect the layer-to-layer misalignment of the stack, resulting in an unstable stack and each basket not necessarily falling within the acceptable range of mechanical operation. Therefore, the finishing means provided by the invention at the feeding end is one of the keys for improving the production performance. In addition, the first collating device 150 may be configured with a height detecting means to detect whether the total height of the stack of parts before entering the first collating device 150 meets the operation tolerance of the material taking device (i.e., the robot) of the system. The controller 140 can record the height of the stack carried by the nth trolley according to the detection, and determine whether to allow or reject the stack of workpieces to enter the first collating device 150. The height detection means is mainly used for ensuring that the stacking height of the material pieces is within an allowable operation range of a mechanical arm, and avoiding the system from stopping due to the fact that the material taking device cannot grab the material pieces or the material pieces cannot be separated. If the number of stacks on the trolley is too large or insufficient, the controller 140 can instruct the pipeline 103 to return the trolley to the inlet 101 or inform the operator to adjust the number of stacks of parts through an alarm means. The height detection refers to a height of the stacking structure relative to the system, which can be determined by the material piece itself and the number of stacking layers. For example, when the trolley does not bear any material, the height detection means identifies that the height of the stacking structure is zero; when the trolley carries thirty stacked material pieces, the height detection means can identify that the stacking structure reaches the maximum allowable height and indicate that the trolley is in a full-load state. In one embodiment, the height detection means may be implemented by an optical detection means or an ultrasonic detection means. Preferably, the means are adapted and configured to perform a height detection for an unsorted stack of parts.

Fig. 2 illustrates a structure 200 with a plurality of baskets stacked one above the other and carried by a trolley 202. In order to increase the throughput, the number of upper and lower stacks is desired to be maximized as much as possible, but the relative stack weight should also be determined whether the stability of the overall stack structure is affected and the transportation burden that the trolley 202 can bear. The trolley 202 has a suitable structure to securely grab the bottom of the stack. The design of trolley 202 may be determined according to the type of pipeline 103. For example, a track is used as a guide for the pipeline, and the matching trolley is suitable for being equipped with wheels. Preferably, the trolley 202 can lower the pipeline 103. This is convenient for some plant operators, i.e. the retrieved baskets may be stacked on a trolley 202 and the trolley 202 carrying the stack may be moved by the operator from the inlet 101 into the pipeline 103 after stacking. Depending on the maximum N capture capacity of the system 100, the operator may load N loaded trolleys 202 at a time.

Fig. 3 and 4 illustrate a delivery basket 400 and two number of stacks (300). The delivery basket 400 illustrated in fig. 4 has an interior space 401 formed by a bottom 402 and sides 403A, 403B connecting the bottom. The base 402 is the primary load-bearing structure for the cargo, which may be a flat panel or a basket empty structure as shown. The sides are formed by connecting the tall side 404A and the short side 404B adjacent to each other, and particularly, the length of a gap formed by the short side 404B is approximately equal to the length of the tall side 404A. Thus, the same two baskets can be stacked crosswise, as shown in fig. 3, thereby maximizing the number of stacks within a limited vertical stacking height. However, as previously mentioned, imperfections in the delivery basket itself, such as bending, may result in undesirable distortion of the manual stacking structure. To solve this problem, the first collating device 150 of the present invention corrects for the twisted portion after the stacked structure enters the feed end.

A blanking platform 133 is disposed on an opposite side of the ejector mechanism 132 between the blanking line 130 and the discharge section 1032 to receive a plurality of pieces that are ejected out of the blanking line 130. Fig. 9 partially illustrates a blanking platform 900 engaged in the y-direction of the blanking line 130. The blanking platform 900 has a slope 901, and the slope 901 is provided with a roller 902 for promoting the material feeding member to slide down. Preferably, the roller 902 is a powered roller that is driven to bring the material in the correct direction. In the case of a basket, the powered rollers provide unidirectional thrust to urge the basket to slide off and prevent the basket from tilting or shifting. The bottom end of the inclined plane 901 is provided with a blocking mechanism 903 for preventing the material part from sliding off, and a plurality of limiting mechanisms 904 are further provided between the inclined plane 901 and the blocking mechanism 903 and are spaced at equal intervals. Two adjacent constraining mechanisms 904 define a parking area between them for a single part to be parked waiting to be transferred 131 by the second reclaimer assembly. For example, depending on the orientation of the receiving basket (length or width towards the loading platform), the distance between adjacent restraint mechanisms 904 must be greater than the length or width of the basket to avoid the basket being blocked by both.

Fig. 10 more clearly illustrates the restraining mechanism 904 of the blanking platform, which is a symmetrical structure with a narrow top and a wide bottom, and helps to guide the parts to the parking area. The stay zone is the area where the material part lies on the inclined plane 901 and can be supported by the blocking mechanism 904 at the same time. In order to ensure that the material is located in the operating range of the second material taking device 131, the blanking platform 900 may further include a plurality of third arranging devices 1000, which are a clamping device. The delivery basket in the parking area may not be properly positioned or over-biased by a restraining mechanism 904, and the third collating device 1000 is controlled to laterally (x-direction) grasp the delivery basket, thereby aligning the delivery basket and positioning it in an easily accessible position for receiving by the second material extracting device 131. Preferably, the dwell area between adjacent restraining mechanisms 904 may define a gap 905 that facilitates the second reclaimer device 131 accessing the basket, particularly when the second reclaimer device 131 is engaged by a gripper device with fingers that may be passed over the bottom of the basket.

The second extracting device 131 may have similar structure and configuration (i.e. corresponding holder, connecting structure, receiving device), but perform actions differently. The second material taking device 131 also performs the taking action in the inner space of the material, but the second material taking device 131 performs the taking action at an angle according to the inclination of the blanking platform 900. After completion of the pick-up, the second reclaimer device 131 transfers the N baskets from the parking area of the blanking platform 900 to the discharge area 1032 of the pipeline 103 and places them uppermost in the N stacks. The second material taking device 131 receives N delivery baskets from the blanking platform 900 at a time as the next layer of the stack, aligns each of the N delivery baskets with each of the delivery baskets corresponding to the previous layer, such as the delivery baskets of the upper and lower layers are crossed with each other as shown in fig. 3, and then performs a releasing action to complete the stack. Stacking of material pieces on the basis of machines is challenging here, which involves, among other things, the simultaneous and precise placement of the stacking structure on each basket in the case of a large number of material take-offs. Therefore, the operation of the first collating device 150, the second collating device 6000 and the third collating device 1000 is important, and the rearrangement at each stage is to ensure that the baskets can maintain the ideal spatial relationship with each other under different conveying conditions, so that the baskets do not exceed the allowable range of mechanical operation during different transfer periods.

The discharging zone 1032 parks the N dollies advanced from the feeding zone 1031 while keeping proper intervals from each other as the parking rule of the feeding zone 1031. When the trolley carries a certain number of stacked delivery baskets, the delivery baskets are pushed to the outlet 102 along the pipeline 103, and the discharging is completed.

Fig. 11 depicts a method flow of the charging and discharging system of the present invention, comprising steps S1100 to S1110. These steps will be described below with reference to fig. 1 to 10.

In step S1100, a pipeline 103 is provided as a first pipeline of the feeding and discharging system. The pipeline 103 is configured to push a plurality of stacks, such as the stack 200 carried by the trolley 202 shown in FIG. 2, stacked with the same plurality of baskets 400. Wherein each goods-delivering basket has an inner space formed by a bottom surface and a plurality of side edges. The operator may load the plurality of trolleys carrying the stack into the pipeline 103 in sequence, and the pipeline 103 may push each trolley forward individually using a known driving mechanism, and control the distance between the front trolley and the rear trolley, ending step S1100. The inlet of the pipeline 103 may be provided with a lifting mechanism to facilitate smooth loading of the trolley into the pipeline 103.

In step S1102, each of the plurality of stacks is held by a first collating device 150 to collate each stack individually. The first collating device 150 shown in fig. 1 is disposed in the path of the dollies, and the dollies are sequentially stopped at the first collating device 150 to be collated. Fig. 5A to 5C describe the actions performed by the first collating device in more detail. Fig. 5A shows a supporting action of the first collating device, which supports the stacked structure in the y direction with the first movable portion 501 abutting against one side thereof. Fig. 5B shows a first clamping action that clamps both sides of the stack with the pivoting action of the second movable part 502 and the third movable part 503. Fig. 5C shows a second clamping action, which is to press the fourth movable portion 504 of the first movable portion 501 against the other side of the stacked structure, so that the first movable portion 501 and the fourth movable portion 504 clamp the stacked structure, and the movable portions are arranged to surround the stacked structure, so that the twist or tilt of the stacked structure can be corrected. Next, all movable parts of the first collating device are retracted to the home position, and the stack continues to advance along line 103 to feed zone 1031, ending step S1102. In one embodiment, the step S1100 may further include a height detecting means for the delivery basket stacking structure 200 to determine whether the total height of the stacking structure 200 meets the operation tolerance of the first material taking device 121 and the second material taking device 131. The height detection means can be realized by an optical detector or an ultrasonic detector disposed on the path of the pipeline 103, and the detection means includes generating a detection signal to the controller 140, and determining whether to allow or deny the trolley carrying the stacking structure to enter the next step by the controller 140. The controller 140 may be configured to record a maximum allowable height, such as thirty, at which stacked structures may be processed in the system. When the detection signal indicates that the number is more or less than thirty, the controller 140 commands the line 103 to retract the trolley that does not meet the maximum allowable height.

In step S1104, a plurality of stacks are simultaneously held by a second collating device 600 to align the plurality of stacks in the feeding zone 1031. The plurality of stacks collated by the first collating device 150 are collectively parked at the feed zone 1031, which is configured to allow the N dollies to be parked in a row. Of course, in other possible embodiments, the feeding zone 1031 may be configured to allow N dollies to be parked in multiple rows. The number of N may be determined by a maximum capture of the system. As illustrated in fig. 6, a second collating device 600 may be provided around the feeding zone 1031, configured to clamp N stacks carried by N dollies, and in particular, the second collating device 600 is configured to perform the clamping action in a manner of contacting the N stacks simultaneously, to make the N stacks in line more orderly, ending step S1104. In addition, the second collating device 600 can grasp the N stacks, so that the stacks are not easily deformed by external force (e.g., during the material taking process).

In step S1106, a first picking device performs a picking operation and a releasing operation to transfer the stacked workpieces to a second pipeline of the system. The first take off device 121 as in fig. 1 is configured to transfer N baskets of the line 103 at a time from N stacks of the feed zone 1031 to the feed line 120. The feed line 120 may be considered a second line of the system.

Referring to fig. 12, step S1106 further includes steps S1200 to S1206. In step S1200, the first material taking device 121 performs a taking operation. The pick-up devices 703 in the row shown in fig. 7 are aimed at the bottom center of the delivery basket respectively via the lifting displacement means and perform pick-up actions, wherein the pick-up actions include gripping, sucking and spreading, and the pick-up actions are performed in the inner space of the delivery basket, so that the stacked delivery baskets can be closer to each other along the pipeline, and the maximum processing capacity can be obtained in the feeding and discharging area. This is important, and the number of pieces taken per time is of course one of the keys in order to increase the capacity of the feed. For a delivery basket or similar material, the configuration of the pick-up device 703 aimed at the bottom center and performing actions in the interior space can relatively increase the number of pick-up device arrangements 703 while achieving the best gripping effect, as compared to gripping from the periphery of the delivery basket, which is not conducive to maximizing the processing throughput. The N pick-up devices 703 complete pick-up with the N delivery baskets in synchronization, and step S1200 ends. In step S1202, under the control of the lifting means, the N receiving devices 703 may synchronously perform a micro-swing motion to release the received N baskets from the lower layer structure, so as to be easily taken out from the stack, and the step S1202 is completed. Since the second collating device 600 may hold the stack, the swing does not easily deform or tilt the stack. In step S1204, a tilting operation may be performed by the first material taking device 121, that is, the N goods baskets received by the lifting and displacing mechanism are tilted at a relative angle in synchronization, and then the original state is restored, ending step S1204. This action is optional. In the application of cleaning the cargo basket, the tilting action can initially dump the contents of the interior space of the article. In step S1206, the N picked-up baskets are placed above the loading pipeline 120 by the lifting and displacing means, and the N picking device 703 then performs a releasing operation to release the N delivery baskets from the picking device 703, thereby ending the step S1206. The releasing action is still accomplished in the inner space of the basket.

In step S1106, the first material taking device 121 completes the taking action and the releasing action in a period of time by taking N pieces at a time. In one embodiment, the feeding line 120 pushes N pieces at a time to the processing equipment 110 shown in fig. 1. Preferably, the processing equipment 110 is designed with a compatible pipeline transport mechanism per unit quantity defined by the system and also outputs to the blanking pipeline 130 of fig. 1 in units of N pieces. For ease of illustration, the feed line 130 can be considered a second line of the system. In practice, the second line (including the feed line, the discharge line) of the system may be part of the treatment plant or separate from the treatment plant.

In step S1108, the N pieces on the second pipeline are simultaneously pushed away from the second pipeline, and a discharging platform receives the pushed pieces. Such as by the push-out mechanism 132 of fig. 1, simultaneously or sequentially pushing out N cargo baskets on the blanking line 130. The blanking platform 133 connected to the blanking pipeline 130 receives the N baskets, and the limiting mechanism 904 provided on the blanking platform 133 guides each basket to fall into the corresponding stop area, ending the step S1108. Preferably, N release rails may be provided on the pushing arm of the pushing mechanism 132 to limit the range of operation of each basket on the pushing mechanism 132 to ensure that each basket is successfully pushed out of the blanking line 130 and into the blanking platform 133 in a desired direction.

In step S1110, each of the parts from the second pipeline is clamped to align the parts. For example, the third collating device 1000 in fig. 10 may hold the baskets in the stopping area of the blanking platform 133, so that the orientations of the N baskets on the blanking platform 133 are maintained consistent and the baskets are arranged in order, and the baskets are waiting to be transferred to the discharging area 1032 by the second material taking device 131 in fig. 1. The third collating device 1000 performs a gripping in a horizontal direction (x direction). In other possible embodiments, however, a third collating device 1000 or more other collating devices may provide for more directional correction of the baskets.

In step S1104, a second sorting device simultaneously holds a plurality of stacks to align the plurality of stacks. The plurality of stacks collated by the first collating device 150 are collectively parked at the feed zone 1031, which is configured to allow the N dollies to be parked in a row. Of course, in other possible embodiments, the feeding zone 1031 may be configured to allow N dollies to be parked in multiple rows. The number of N may be determined by a maximum capture of the system. As illustrated in fig. 6, a second collating device 600 may be provided around the feeding zone 1031, configured to clamp N stacks carried by N dollies, and in particular, the second collating device 600 is configured to perform the clamping action in a manner of contacting the N stacks simultaneously, to make the N stacks in line more orderly, ending step S1104. In addition, the second collating device 600 can grasp the N stacks, so that the stacks are not easily deformed by external force (e.g., during the material taking process).

Referring to fig. 12, step S1106 further includes steps S1200 to S1206. In step S1200, the first material taking device 121 performs a taking operation. The plurality of pick-up devices 703 arranged in a row as shown in fig. 7 are aimed at the bottom center of the delivery basket through the elevation displacement means, and perform pick-up operations including gripping, sucking, and expanding, and particularly the pick-up operations are performed in the inner space of the delivery basket. This is important, and the number of pieces taken per time is of course one of the keys in order to increase the capacity of the feed. For a basket or similar material, the arrangement of the pick-up device 703 aimed at the bottom center and acting in the inner space allows to relatively increase the number of pick-up device arrangements 703 and at the same time to obtain an optimal gripping effect. The N pick-up devices 703 complete pick-up with the N delivery baskets in synchronization, and step S1200 ends. In step S1202, under the control of the lifting means, the N receiving devices 703 may synchronously perform a micro-swing motion to release the received N baskets from the lower layer structure, so as to be easily taken out from the stack, and the step S1202 is completed. Since the second collating device 600 can hold the stack, the swing does not easily deform the stack. In step S1204, a tilting operation may be performed by the first material taking device 121, that is, the N goods baskets received by the lifting and displacing mechanism are tilted at a relative angle in synchronization, and then the original state is restored, ending step S1204. This action is optional. In applications where the basket is cleaned, the tilting action may initially dump out large debris in the container. In step S1206, the N picked-up baskets are placed above the loading pipeline 120 by the lifting and displacing means, and the N picking-up devices 703 then perform a releasing action to disconnect the N delivery baskets from the picking-up devices 703, ending the step S1206. The releasing action is still accomplished in the inner space of the basket.

In step S1106, the first material taking device 121 completes the taking action and the releasing action in a period of time by taking N pieces at a time. In one embodiment, the feeding line 120 pushes N pieces at a time to the processing equipment 110 shown in fig. 1. Preferably, the processing equipment 110 is designed to accommodate a compatible pipeline transport mechanism per unit quantity defined by the system and also outputs a single N pieces to the blanking pipeline 130 as shown in fig. 1. For ease of illustration, the feed line 130 can be considered a second line of the system. In practice, the second line (including the feed line, the discharge line) of the system may be part of the treatment plant or separate from the treatment plant.

In step S1108, the N pieces on the second pipeline are simultaneously pushed away from the second pipeline, and a discharging platform receives the pushed pieces. Such as by the push-out mechanism 132 of fig. 1, simultaneously or sequentially pushing out N cargo baskets on the blanking line 130. The blanking platform 133 connected to the blanking pipeline 130 receives the N baskets, and the limiting mechanism 904 provided on the blanking platform 133 guides each basket to fall into the corresponding stop area, ending the step S1108. Preferably, N release rails may be provided on the blanking line 130 to limit the range of operation of each basket on the push mechanism 132 to ensure that each basket is successfully pushed out of the blanking line 130 and out of the existing production line in a desired direction.

The terms "aligned" and "aligned" as used herein refer to all of the elements being stacked or aligned, whether in a horizontal or vertical direction, as closely as possible to a line or plane. Alternatively, the columns or rows in an arrangement are evenly distributed, with a clear layer-to-layer relationship. It will be appreciated that the "alignment" and "trim" should take into account structural imperfections in the part itself.

In summary, the material taking device and method provided by the invention can effectively increase the feeding amount, such as seven or more, and simultaneously the action in the inner space can effectively grab each material piece. More importantly, the feeding and discharging system and the feeding and discharging method provided by the invention provide a stacking and arranging mechanism for the material pieces, so that the material pieces can be maintained in a mechanically operable range on the paths of the feeding end and the discharging end, the feeding and discharging efficiency is relatively improved, and the mechanical error rate is reduced.

Claims

1. A pipeline charging and discharging system, comprising:

the pipeline is provided with an inlet and an outlet, a feeding area and a discharging area are arranged between the inlet and the outlet, each trolley is used for bearing a plurality of stacks of material pieces, and each material piece is provided with an inner space;

the first material taking device comprises a plurality of receiving devices and synchronously lifts and displaces the plurality of receiving devices;

the second material taking device comprises a plurality of receiving devices and synchronously lifts and displaces the plurality of receiving devices; and

the controller controls the plurality of the access devices of the first material taking device and the second material taking device to execute an access action or a release action;

after the first material taking device synchronously ascends, descends and displaces the plurality of receiving devices to the feeding area, the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the first material taking device to synchronously receive a plurality of to-be-processed materials from a plurality of stacked materials;

after the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the second material taking device to synchronously receive the processed plurality of materials, the second material taking device synchronously ascends, descends and displaces the plurality of receiving devices to the discharging area, and the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the second material taking device to synchronously release the processed plurality of materials to the plurality of stacked materials.

2. The pipeline feeding and discharging system of claim 1, further comprising a first arranging device disposed between the inlet of the pipeline and the feeding area for arranging a plurality of said parts carried by the trolley in a stacked manner.

3. The pipeline charging and discharging system of claim 2, wherein the first organizing device has a plurality of movable portions, and at least one movable portion is pivotable with respect to another movable portion.

4. The pipeline feeding and discharging system of claim 2, wherein the first arranging device has a plurality of movable portions, and the plurality of movable portions are configured to surround a stacking structure of a plurality of the material pieces, so that the plurality of the material pieces carried by the trolley are stacked in order.

5. The in-line feed and discharge system of claim 1, wherein said feed zone is provided with a second organizing device configured to hold stacks carried by side-by-side trolleys in said feed zone.

6. The in-line feeding and discharging system of claim 1, further comprising a discharging platform or extension conveyor disposed between the discharging region of the pipeline and a discharging pipeline, the discharging platform being provided with a plurality of limiting mechanisms, two adjacent limiting mechanisms defining a stopping region for a single processed material to stop.

7. The in-line feeding and discharging system of claim 6, wherein the blanking platform comprises a third arranging device configured to arrange the spacing between the processed pieces in the stopping area, so that the second taking device can be lifted and displaced to the blanking platform to synchronously take the processed pieces.

8. The in-line feeding and discharging system of claim 6, further comprising a pushing mechanism having a pushing arm, disposed on the other side of the discharging line opposite to the discharging platform, for pushing the processed multiple pieces from the discharging line to multiple staying areas of the discharging platform synchronously to wait for the multiple receiving devices of the second material-taking device to receive the processed multiple pieces.

9. The in-line feeding and discharging system of claim 1, wherein the first material extracting device places the plurality of material parts to be processed, which are received by the plurality of receiving devices, on a feeding line, and the plurality of material parts processed, which are not received by the plurality of receiving devices of the second material extracting device, are placed on a discharging line, wherein a processing device is disposed between the feeding line and the discharging line.

10. The pipeline feeding and discharging system of claim 1, further comprising a collecting container disposed between the feeding area and a feeding pipeline of the pipeline, wherein the first material taking device synchronously lifts and displaces the plurality of material pieces to be processed received by the plurality of receiving devices to above the collecting container, and tilts the plurality of material pieces to be processed to dump the impurities in the inner space to the collecting container.

11. A in-line feed system, comprising:

the conveying pipeline is provided with an inlet and a feeding area, each trolley is used for bearing a stack of a plurality of pieces, and each piece is provided with an inner space;

the feeding pipeline is used for feeding a plurality of materials to be processed into processing equipment;

the first material taking device comprises a plurality of receiving devices and synchronously lifts and displaces the plurality of receiving devices; and

the controller is used for controlling the plurality of the access devices of the first material taking device to synchronously execute an access action or a release action;

after the first material taking device synchronously ascends, descends and displaces the plurality of receiving devices to the feeding area, the controller controls the plurality of receiving devices of the first material taking device to synchronously receive a plurality of to-be-processed materials from a plurality of stacked materials; and after the first material taking device moves the plurality of materials to be processed which are taken by the plurality of taking devices to the feeding pipeline, the controller controls the plurality of taking devices of the first material taking device to synchronously release the plurality of materials to be processed to the feeding pipeline.

12. The pipeline feeding system of claim 11, further comprising a first arranging device disposed between the inlet of the pipeline and the feeding area for arranging a plurality of said parts carried by the trolley in a stack.

13. The pipeline feeding system of claim 12, wherein the first collating device has a plurality of movable portions configured to surround a stacking structure of a plurality of pieces to stack the pieces carried by the trolley in order.

14. A pipeline feeding system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the feeding section is provided with a second collating device arranged to hold stacks carried by side-by-side trolleys in the feeding section.

15. The pipeline feeding system of claim 11, further comprising a collecting container disposed between the feeding area of the pipeline and the feeding pipeline, wherein the first material taking device synchronously moves up and down and displaces the plurality of material pieces to be processed received by the plurality of receiving devices to the upper portion of the collecting container, and tilts the plurality of material pieces to be processed to dump the impurities in the inner space to the collecting container.

16. A pipeline discharge system, comprising:

the conveying pipeline is provided with an outlet and a discharging area, each trolley is used for bearing a stack of a plurality of materials, and each material has an inner space;

a blanking pipeline for receiving a plurality of processed parts from a processing device;

the controller controls the plurality of the access devices of the second material taking device to execute an access action or a release action;

17. The pipe discharge system of claim 16, further comprising a discharge platform disposed between the discharge region of the pipe and a discharge pipe, the discharge platform being provided with a plurality of restraining mechanisms, two adjacent restraining mechanisms defining a retention area for a single processed part to be retained.

18. The line draw system of claim 17, further comprising a push mechanism having a push arm disposed on the other side of the feed line relative to the feed platform, the push arm simultaneously pushing the processed workpieces from the feed line to the stop areas of the feed platform to wait for the processed workpieces to be picked by the pick-up devices of the second pick-up device.

19. A pipeline feed process comprising:

pushing a plurality of stacks from an inlet to a feed zone by a pipeline, each stack comprising a plurality of pieces to be processed, each piece having an interior space;

arranging each of the plurality of stacks at the entrance by a first arranging device so that the stacks are orderly;

arranging a plurality of said stacks in alignment in said feed zone by a second arranging means; and

a plurality of receiving devices of a first material taking device are used for receiving a plurality of materials from a plurality of stacks of the feeding area and displacing the materials to a feeding pipeline.

20. The in-line feed method of claim 19, further comprising: before the plurality of material parts are moved to the feeding pipeline, the first material taking device inclines the plurality of material parts to be processed so as to dump the sundries in the inner space to a collecting container.

21. The in-line feed method of claim 19, further comprising: each receiving device of the first material taking device executes a receiving action from the inner space of the corresponding material piece.

22. The in-line feed method of claim 19, further comprising: each stack before entering the first sorting device is detected by a detection means and a detection signal is generated to determine whether to allow one or more stacks to enter the first sorting device.

23. A method of line tapping, comprising:

pushing a plurality of stacks from a discharge area to an outlet from a pipeline, each stack comprising a plurality of processed parts, each part having an interior space;

pushing the processed materials into a plurality of stay areas of a blanking platform from a blanking pipeline by a pushing mechanism with a pushing arm; and

and a plurality of receiving devices of a second material taking device are used for receiving a plurality of processed materials from a plurality of stopping areas of the blanking platform and displacing the materials to a plurality of stacks of the discharging area.

24. The in-line tapping method of claim 23, further comprising: each receiving device of the second material taking device executes a receiving action from the inner space of the corresponding material piece.

25. The in-line tapping method of claim 23, further comprising: the pushing arm is provided with a plurality of releasing railings which sequentially block a plurality of materials pushed by the blanking pipeline, each material is aligned to the corresponding stopping area of the blanking platform, and each material is synchronously pushed into the corresponding stopping area by the pushing arm.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the blanking platform is disposed between the discharge section of the pipeline and the blanking pipeline, the blanking platform is provided with a plurality of limiting mechanisms, and two adjacent limiting mechanisms define a retention area for a single processed workpiece to be retained.