CN112004616A

CN112004616A - Mechanical device for obtaining sheet-like article

Info

Publication number: CN112004616A
Application number: CN201980021400.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐升; 任翔; 顾裕覃
Original assignee: Shenzhen Vlan Intelligent Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Vlan Intelligent Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-12
Filing date: 2019-12-12
Publication date: 2020-11-27
Also published as: WO2021114190A1

Abstract

A mechanical device for capturing tobacco leaves includes a suction cup, a driver, first and second jaws, each mounted on a base. The first jaw includes a first pivot end pivotable along a first pivot axis and a first jaw as a first free end. The first clamping piece is of a long strip-shaped flat plate structure and extends along the direction parallel to the first pivot shaft. The second jaw includes a second pivot end pivotable along a second pivot axis and a second jaw as a second free end. The second clamping piece is of a long strip-shaped flat plate structure and extends along the direction parallel to the second pivot shaft. When the driver drives the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw to be closed, the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw are located below the sucker and used for lifting tobacco leaves, the risk that the tobacco leaves fall off from the tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism while the tobacco leaves are damaged by sorting is reduced, and the smooth sorting is ensured.

Description

Mechanical device for obtaining sheet-like article

Technical Field

The invention relates to a tobacco leaf sorting device, in particular to a mechanical device for acquiring a sheet-shaped article.

Background

Tobacco is an important commercial crop, and its product, tobacco leaf, is an important raw material for the tobacco manufacturing industry. Due to the influence of climate, environment, soil, variety, implantation part, planting measure and baking process of different regions, the quality of tobacco leaves is greatly different, so that the tobacco leaves must be classified necessarily, the tobacco leaves with different qualities are sorted out, classified into classes, quoted in terms of quality, and resources are reasonably utilized to meet the requirements of agricultural and economic development.

The physical characteristic of tobacco leaves is a less regular, uneven, relatively fragile plate-like object. The color, size and shape of each tobacco leaf are different. At present, the sorting of tobacco leaves is mainly carried out manually, and the tobacco leaves with different qualities are placed in different areas for isolation and rating by observing various judging indexes such as color, length and the like of the tobacco leaves by operators. The tobacco leaf sorting machine is high in labor intensity, large in labor consumption and low in production efficiency. Therefore, it is important and economically important to develop an automated sorting device for obtaining tobacco leaves (or sheet-like articles).

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention aim to provide a mechanical device for obtaining a sheet-like article, such as tobacco. In one aspect, the mechanical device provided by the invention comprises an intelligent mechanical arm provided with a sheet-shaped article acquisition mechanism, and can rapidly sort sheet-shaped articles. In another aspect, the present invention provides a mechanism comprising a sheet-like article acquisition mechanism having a clip. When the plate-shaped article acquisition mechanism sorts the plate-shaped articles, the damage to the plate-shaped articles is small, and the reliable transportation of the plate-shaped articles can be realized.

As contemplated above, embodiments of the present invention employ a solution that includes a mechanism for obtaining a sheet-like article. The mechanical device comprises: a base; a suction cup mounted on the base; a first jaw comprising: the first free end comprises a first clamping piece, the first clamping piece is of a long strip-shaped flat plate structure, and the long edge of the first clamping piece is parallel to the first pivot shaft; a second jaw comprising: the second free end comprises a second clamping piece, the second clamping piece is of a long strip-shaped flat plate structure, and the long edge of the second clamping piece is parallel to the second pivot shaft; and the driver is arranged on the base and is respectively and mechanically connected with the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw so as to drive the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw to open or close.

According to some embodiments of the present application, the mechanical device further comprises a first crank and a second crank. The first crank comprises: a first crank end pivotally connected to the driver and a second crank end pivotally connected to the first jaw; the second crank comprises: a third crank end pivotally connected to the driver, and a fourth crank end pivotally connected to the second jaw.

According to some embodiments of the present application, the driver, the first crank, the first jaw, and the base form a first crank-slider mechanism, and the driver is configured to drive the first crank end to move linearly, thereby causing the first jaw to pivot about the first pivot axis; the driver, the second crank, the second clamping jaw and the base form a second crank-slider mechanism, the driver is configured to drive the third crank end to move linearly, so as to drive the second clamping jaw to perform a second pivoting around the second pivot shaft, and the second pivoting is opposite to the first pivoting direction.

According to some embodiments of the present application, when the first jaw and the second jaw are closed: the first clamping piece is positioned below the sucker and is a preset distance away from the sucker, so that when the sucker sucks an object with an uneven planar structure, the object is supported from the lower side; and the second clamping piece is positioned below the sucker and is away from the sucker by the preset distance so as to support the object from the lower part when the object is sucked by the sucker.

According to some embodiments of the present application, when the first jaw and the second jaw are closed: the strip-shaped flat plate structure of the first clamping piece faces the sucker; and the strip-shaped flat plate structure of the second clamping piece faces the sucker.

According to some embodiments of the present application, when the first jaw and the second jaw are closed: the strip-shaped flat plate structure of the first clamping piece is in a horizontal posture; and the elongated flat plate structure of the second clamping piece is in a horizontal posture.

According to some embodiments of the present application, when the first jaw and the second jaw are open: the first clamping piece is located on a first side of the sucker, the second clamping piece is located on a second side of the sucker, and the first side is opposite to the second side.

According to some embodiments of the present application, the suction cup comprises: a first suction cup on one side of the driver; and a second suction cup on the other side of the driver opposite to the first suction cup, wherein the distance between the first suction cup and the second suction cup is adjustable.

According to some embodiments of the present application, the robotic device further comprises a robotic arm, the base being mounted on the robotic arm.

According to some embodiments of the application, the robotic arm includes a suspension mechanism coupled to a motor, the base is mounted on the suspension mechanism, and the motor is operative to drive the base to rotate.

In summary, in the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the mechanical device includes an intelligent mechanical arm, and no manual assistance is required from the step of sucking up the sheet-like object to the step of placing the sheet-like object in the corresponding sorting collector. In addition, sorting device includes slice platelike article acquisition mechanism, and slice platelike article acquisition mechanism includes the clamping piece, when reducing the letter sorting and damaging slice platelike article, has reduced the risk that slice platelike article drops from slice platelike article acquisition mechanism, guarantees going on smoothly of slice platelike article letter sorting.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a tobacco sorting system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an image processing apparatus and a sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a mechanical apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a mechanical apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a mechanical apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6A is a perspective view of a tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6B is a front view of the tobacco harvesting mechanism provided by embodiments of the present application;

fig. 6C is a side view of the tobacco harvesting mechanism provided by embodiments of the present application;

fig. 6D is a top view of the tobacco harvesting mechanism provided by embodiments of the present application; and

fig. 6E is a schematic structural diagram of the tobacco leaf obtaining mechanism provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present disclosure, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various local modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. For example, as used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" may include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," and/or "including," when used in this specification, mean that the associated integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components are present, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof in the system/method.

These and other features of the present disclosure, as well as the operation and function of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, may be particularly improved upon in view of the following description. All of which form a part of the present disclosure, with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the disclosure.

The flow diagrams used in this disclosure illustrate system-implemented operations according to some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be clearly understood that the operations of the flow diagrams may be performed out of order. Rather, the operations may be performed in reverse order or simultaneously. In addition, one or more other operations may be added to the flowchart. One or more operations may be removed from the flowchart.

One aspect of the present application relates to a mechanism for sorting sheet-like articles. Specifically, the mechanical device comprises a smart mechanical arm and a plate-like article acquisition mechanism mounted on the smart mechanical arm. The sheet-like article acquisition mechanism comprises a driver, a clamping jaw, a clamping piece and a sucking disc, wherein the clamping jaw is connected with the driver and the clamping piece. When the clamping jaw is opened, the clamping piece is positioned on the side of the sucker, and a space is reserved for the sucker to adsorb a target plate-shaped object. When the clamping jaws are closed, the clamping piece is positioned below the suction disc and supports the target plate-shaped object. The mechanical device disclosed by the application can be applied to various fields besides sorting sheet-shaped objects (such as tobacco leaves) as a sorting device, for example, sorting of some sheet-shaped structures (such as broken paper sheets) with uneven strip-shaped surfaces, insufficient rigidity and irregular shapes, or sheet-shaped structures (such as silicon wafers) which are fragile and afraid to fall, and the like. For convenience of explanation, the technical solution in the present application is presented in the following description of the present application by taking tobacco leaf sorting as an example.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a tobacco sorting system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown, the tobacco sorting system 100 includes a feeding device 110, an image processing device 120, an encoder (not shown in the figures), and a sorting device 130.

The feeding device 110 may be used to transport a plurality of tobacco leaves to the image processing device 120. The plurality of tobacco leaves are cured tobacco leaves. The plurality of tobacco leaves may be randomly placed on the supplying device 110 in a dispersed state or a stacked state, and conveyed to the image processing device 120. In other cases, the tobacco leaves are transported to the image processing device 120 in a completely independent, spaced-apart state. In other cases, the tobacco-leaf-presenting portion may be conveyed to the image processing device 120 in an overlapping state (e.g., an overlapping rate of not higher than 20%).

In some embodiments, the feeding device 110 may be a simple feeding belt on which the tobacco leaves are manually scattered and then transported to the image processing device 120. In other cases, the feeding device 110 may include a tobacco placement pallet, a vibratory feeder, and a loading belt. The tobacco leaf placing pallet is used for placing tobacco leaves; the vibrating feeder can vibrate the tobacco leaf placing pallet and the feeding belt. Shaking the tobacco leaves by vibration, so that the tobacco leaves are convenient to sort; the feeding belt is used to transport the tobacco leaves to the image processing device 120.

The image processing device 120 may be configured to collect image information of tobacco leaves and obtain grade information of the tobacco leaves. In some embodiments, the image processing device 120 may include an image acquisition device and an information recognition device.

The image acquiring device can be used for acquiring image information of the tobacco leaves, wherein the image information comprises the shape (if the tobacco leaves are not damaged), the color (including a visible light range and a non-visible light range) and the like of the tobacco leaves. In some embodiments, the image acquisition device may include a light-shielded chamber, a light source, a sensor, and a camera (e.g., a CMOS camera). The light source can provide luminance for the shading room, creates good environment of shooing. The sensor can be a distance sensor and is used for detecting the position of the tobacco leaves from the camera, so that the camera can acquire the images of the tobacco leaves when the tobacco leaves are at the proper position. For example, when the distance sensor detects that a tobacco leaf is located directly below the camera, the camera starts to capture an image of the tobacco leaf.

The information recognition device may be configured to process image information of tobacco leaves and obtain grade information of the tobacco leaves. The grade information may be a grade of tobacco leaves. For example, the tobacco leaves are classified into a first grade, a second grade, a. In some embodiments, the information recognition apparatus may pre-process image information of tobacco leaves, extract features (e.g., color features, texture features, shape features, spatial relationship features) in the image information, and then obtain grade information of the tobacco leaves based on the features. For example, the information identification device may acquire grade information of the tobacco leaves through a convolutional neural network. For another example, the information recognition device may obtain the grade information of the tobacco leaves through a simple classification model.

An encoder is a device that compiles, converts, and formats signals (e.g., bitstreams) or data into a form of signals that can be communicated, transmitted, and stored. For example, the encoder may convert an angular or linear displacement into an electrical signal. The encoder can thus be used to measure motion information of the target leaf. The target tobacco leaf may be any one of the plurality of tobacco leaves to be sorted that is transferred from the supply device 110. The motion information of the target tobacco leaf may include a motion speed of the target tobacco leaf, a time of arrival at the sorting apparatus 130, and the like. Accordingly, the sorting device 130 may grasp or adsorb the target tobacco leaves at an appropriate time according to the motion information of the target tobacco leaves. It should be understood that, in the case where the encoder does not acquire the motion information of the tobacco leaves, even after the sorting apparatus 130 acquires the grade information of the tobacco leaves, the sorting apparatus 130 cannot grasp or suck the tobacco leaves at an appropriate timing, and thus cannot complete the automatic sorting process of the tobacco leaves.

The sorting device 130 may sort the target tobacco leaves according to the grade information and the motion information of the tobacco leaves. Specifically, the sorting device 130 may determine to grab or adsorb the target tobacco at an appropriate time according to the motion information of the target tobacco, and adjust a corresponding motion speed to grab or adsorb the tobacco. The sorting apparatus 130 may then place the tobacco leaves in the respective sorting collector ("target sorting collector") or place the target tobacco leaves on a respective conveyor ("target conveyor"), which transports the target tobacco leaves to the target sorting collector, according to the grade information of the tobacco leaves.

In some cases, the sorting apparatus 130 can include a robotic arm on which a tobacco leaf retrieval mechanism is mounted that can be used to pick up and lift tobacco leaves. The mechanical arm can comprise a four-axis SCARA robot, a six-axis SCARA robot or a parallel connection DELTA robot, the robot has high degree of freedom and high speed, and can quickly sort the tobacco leaves according to grade information and motion information of the tobacco leaves. More structural information about the sorting apparatus 130 may be referred to in fig. 3 to 6 and the description thereof.

There are several variations of the above described tobacco sorting system 100 that are also within the scope of the present application. These variations may include the following examples:

in some embodiments, the image processing device 120 may be further configured to acquire image information of the tobacco leaves and obtain the acquisition location information of the target tobacco leaves. The acquired part information, which is also called as grasping part information or capturing part information, refers to information corresponding to a specific part of the tobacco leaves that are absorbed, captured or grasped by the sorting device 130 when the tobacco leaves are sorted. For example, the image processing device 120 may establish a coordinate system for each piece of tobacco, and the acquired location information may be coordinate information of a specific location where the sorting device 130 sucks or grabs the tobacco.

Accordingly, the sorting apparatus 130 may sort the tobacco leaves according to the grade information, the acquired part information, and the motion information of the tobacco leaves.

The image processing device 120 may determine the above-mentioned acquisition location information according to the shape and size of the tobacco leaves. For example, when the tobacco leaves are slim, the image processing device 120 may determine the middle portion of the tobacco leaves as a portion where the sorting device 130 sucks the tobacco leaves, and then may determine the coordinates of the middle portion of the tobacco leaves as an acquisition portion according to the size of the tobacco leaves.

It should be understood that after the image processing device 120 obtains the grade information, the obtaining position information, and the encoder obtains the motion information of the target tobacco, the image processing device 120 and the encoder may send the grade information, the obtaining position information, and the motion information to the sorting device 130 directly, or to a controller (for example, may be included in the tobacco sorting system 100, and is not shown in the figure) which controls the sorting device 130.

In some embodiments, the tobacco sorting system 100 may further include a transport 140. The transport device 140 connects the feeding device 110 and the image processing device 120, and can be used for transporting the tobacco leaves from the feeding system 110 to the image processing device 120. The transportation device 140 increases the operation length of the tobacco sorting system 100, reduces manual pressure, and improves the work efficiency of the whole system.

The transport device 140 may include a climbing feeder 142. The climbing feeder 142 connects the supply device 110 and the image processing device 120.

The climbing feeder 142 may be a conveyor belt. The climbing feeder 142 includes an inlet end for receiving the plurality of tobacco leaves from the feeding device 110 and an outlet end for outputting the plurality of tobacco leaves. The vertical height of the outlet end is greater than that of the inlet end, and an upward inclined slope exists between the outlet end and the inlet end. Due to the inclined slope, in the tobacco leaf conveying process, tobacco leaves are influenced by gravity, the tobacco leaves which are overlapped with each other are pulled apart by a distance along with the dislocation of the tobacco leaves, and therefore the partial overlapping can be eliminated. Therefore, the climbing feeder 142 can disperse the tobacco leaves which are overlapped together and have different orientations by the upward slope feeding, so that the overlapping rate of the tobacco leaves is reduced, and the precision and the accuracy of the image processing device 120 are improved. Meanwhile, in a fixed transverse length space, the inclined slope increases the length of the conveyor belt, and the utilization rate of the space is improved.

The transport device 140 may include a ramp feeder 143. The slope feeder 143 connects the supply device 110 and the image processing device 120.

The ramp feeder 143 may be a conveyor belt. The slope feeder 143 includes an inlet end for receiving the plurality of tobacco leaves and an outlet end for outputting the plurality of tobacco leaves. The vertical height of the outlet end is smaller than that of the inlet end, and a downward inclined slope exists between the outlet end and the inlet end. Due to the inclined slope, the partially overlapped tobacco leaves can slide and be staggered under the influence of gravity during the tobacco leaf conveying process, so that the partial overlapping can be eliminated. Therefore, the slope feeding machine 143 can disperse the tobacco leaves overlapped together and oriented in different directions by a distance through downward slope feeding, so that the overlapping rate of the tobacco leaves is reduced, and the precision and the accuracy of the image processing device 120 are improved. Meanwhile, in a fixed transverse length space, the inclined slope increases the length of the conveyor belt, and the utilization rate of the space is improved.

The transport device 140 may include a combination of a climbing feeder 142 and a slope feeder 143. The climbing feeder 142 is connected to the supply device 110 and the slope feeder 143, and the slope feeder 143 is connected to the climbing feeder 142 and the image processing device 120. The slope gradient of the climbing feeder 142 and the slope feeder 143 may be the same or different, and the slope gradient of the climbing feeder and the slope feeder may be determined by experiments to be an optimal value.

The transporter 140 may also include differential dispersion belts, such as a primary differential dispersion belt 141 and a secondary differential dispersion belt 144. The differential dispersion belt is an upper layer of transmission belt and a lower layer of transmission belt, and the tobacco leaves are respectively transmitted at different speeds. Typically, the upper layer of conveyor belts are transported at a slower speed than the lower layer of conveyor belts. When two adjacent tobacco leaves fall into the lower belt from the upper belt in sequence, the speed of the tobacco leaves falling first is suddenly increased, and therefore the distance between the adjacent tobacco leaves is shortened. Therefore, the differential speed dispersion belt can utilize the speed difference to increase the interval between two adjacent tobacco leaves, so as to facilitate the collection of the image information of a single tobacco leaf and improve the accuracy and precision of the image processing device 120.

As an example, the transportation device 140 may further include a primary differential dispersion belt 141, a climbing feeder 142, a slope feeder 143, and a secondary differential dispersion belt 144. The first-stage differential dispersion belt 141 is connected to the supply device 110, the climbing feeder 142 is connected to the first-stage differential dispersion belt 141, the slope feeder 143 is connected to the climbing feeder 142, the second-stage differential dispersion belt 144 is connected to the slope feeder 143, and the image processing device 120 is connected to the second-stage differential dispersion belt 144.

In some cases, the transport 140 includes a diverter that can divide the tobacco leaves on the transport 140 into two or more sets of lines. For example, the splitter may be a streamlined or V-shaped splitter located in the middle of the same conveyor belt. The tip of the streamline faces the direction in which the tobacco leaves are conveyed. Thus, when the tobacco leaves pass through the leaf separator, the tobacco leaves are separated to the left side and the right side of the belt, and the orientation of the tobacco leaves is consistent and forward. Alternatively, the splitter may be a V-shaped structure. The belt of the assembly line is divided into two different belts after passing through the V-shaped structure to respectively convey tobacco leaves. Thus, the tobacco leaves on the line, after passing through the V-shaped structure, are divided into two groups, each of which is carried on two belts. Accordingly, the tobacco sorting system 100 includes the corresponding image processing devices 120 and the sorting devices 130, so that a plurality of image processing devices 120 and a plurality of sorting devices 130 of one set of the tobacco sorting system 100 can operate simultaneously, thereby increasing the working efficiency of the whole tobacco sorting system 100.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an image processing apparatus and a sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The tobacco sorting system 100 may include a plurality of image processing devices 120 and a plurality of sorting devices 130.

For example, the image processing device 120 includes a first image processing device and a second image processing device, and the sorting device 130 includes a first sorting device and a second sorting device.

In some cases, the first image processing device and the first sorting device may perform primary sorting of the tobacco leaves. If the primary sorting is not completed or fails, for example, the first sorting device fails to pick up the tobacco leaves, the second information collecting device and the second sorting device perform secondary sorting on the tobacco leaves, so that the adaptability of the tobacco leaf sorting system 100 is increased, and it is ensured that the tobacco leaf sorting system can process various tobacco leaves. At this time, the first image processing device and the second image processing device may obtain the tobacco grade information differently, and an algorithm for obtaining the tobacco grade information by the second image processing device may be more complex and have a larger calculation amount.

In other cases, the first image processing device and the first sorting device, and the second information collecting device and the second sorting device, may sort the tobacco leaves at the same time. At this time, the two are not in a sequential relationship, but in a parallel relationship, so that the working efficiency of the tobacco leaf sorting system 100 is increased.

As shown, the tobacco sorting system 100 may include a first image processing device 120-1, a second image processing device 120-2, a third image processing device 120-3, a first sorting device 130-1, a second sorting device 130-2, a third sorting device 130-3, and a plurality of sorting collectors 132. Since the sorting apparatus 130 is an industrial robot, it can move in multiple dimensions according to the target, and the plurality of sorting collectors 132 may be trays placed at the same level or at different levels. For example, the plurality of sorting collectors 132 may be placed on different levels according to the corresponding sorting information, such as a shelf-like structure, which not only reduces the space occupied by the sorting collectors, but also increases the recognition between the sorting collectors. And after the sorting device sorts the target tobacco leaves according to the grade information (classification information) and the motion information of the tobacco leaves, placing the target tobacco leaves in corresponding classification collectors.

It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the tobacco sorting system 100 may include one or more image processing devices 120 and one or more sorting devices 130, with one image processing device 120 corresponding to two or more sorting devices 130. When the image processing device 120 obtains information (e.g., grade information) of the tobacco leaves, the information is transmitted to a specific one of the two or more sorting devices 130, and the sorting of the tobacco leaves is completed by the specific sorting device 130.

Fig. 3 to 5 are schematic structural views of a sorting apparatus (i.e., a mechanical apparatus) according to some embodiments of the present application. The sorting device comprises a tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism 131 and a mechanical arm. The tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism 131 is mounted on the mechanical arm, and the tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism 131 is generally mounted on the mechanical arm through a mounting mechanism. For example, the sorting apparatus 130 depicted in fig. 3 includes a four-axis SCARA robot 134 and a tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism 131, the tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism 131 is flange-mounted on the four-axis SCARA robot 134; the sorting apparatus 130 depicted in fig. 4 comprises a six-axis SCARA robot 136 and a tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism 131, the tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism 131 being flange mounted on the six-axis SCARA robot 136; the sorting apparatus 130 depicted in fig. 5 includes a DELTA robot 138 and a tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism 131, the tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism 131 being mounted on the DELTA robot 138 by a moving platform.

The tail end of the mechanical arm comprises a suspension mechanism, the suspension mechanism is connected with a motor (not shown in the figure), the base is installed on the suspension mechanism and connected with the motor, and the motor drives the base to rotate when working. For example, the tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism 131 may be directly mounted on the motor and rotate with the rotation of the motor; the tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism 131 can also be connected with the motor through a transmission mechanism. When the motor rotates, the motor drives the tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism 131 to rotate through the transmission mechanism. Thus, when the tobacco leaves are sorted, the mechanical arm can move the tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism 131 to a target place, then the motor rotates to rotate the tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism 131 to a proper angle, and therefore the target tobacco leaves are acquired.

Fig. 6A to 6E are a perspective view, a front view, a side view, a top view and a schematic structural diagram of the tobacco leaf capturing mechanism 131 provided in the embodiment of the present application, respectively. The tobacco retrieving mechanism 131 may include a base 600, a driver 610, a jaw 620 and a suction cup 640.

The base 600 provides support for the entire tobacco harvesting mechanism 131. The base 600 may be any shape, depending on the particular design requirements. Further, the base 600 may be connected to the motor of the robot arm through the suspension mechanism. For example, the base 600 may be directly mounted to the motor to rotate as the motor rotates. The base 600 may also be connected to the motor through the transmission mechanism. When the motor rotates, the motor drives the tobacco leaf acquiring mechanism 131 to rotate through the transmission mechanism.

The driver 610 may be any mechanism capable of outputting linear motion, such as a combination of a motor and a slider-crank mechanism, a pneumatic cylinder, hydraulics, and the like. In the configuration shown in fig. 6A-6E, the actuator 610 is a pneumatic cylinder. When the cylinder is started, the piston rod 612 of the cylinder can make reciprocating linear motion along the axial direction of the cylinder.

The suction cup 640 includes a suction cup head and a negative pressure generating device. The negative pressure generating device can generate negative pressure on the sucker head; the suction cup head may suck a target tobacco leaf using the negative pressure. For example, the suction cup 640 may be a vacuum pump or a vacuum generator. When the suction cup 640 generates negative pressure, the target tobacco is sucked by the suction cup head and thus captured by the tobacco retrieving mechanism. The suction cup 640 may release the target tobacco leaves by stopping the generation of the negative pressure. At this time, since the target tobacco leaf has an uneven sheet structure, a gap is left between the target tobacco leaf and the suction cup head, and ambient air can flow into the suction cup head from the gap, thereby releasing the suction force of the suction cup 640 on the target tobacco leaf. If the target object to be sucked is a flat sheet-like structure such as a semiconductor wafer, the chuck head is closely attached to the surface of the target object without leaving a gap. In this case, the suction cup 640 may release the target object by restoring atmospheric pressure or generating positive pressure. The number of the suction cups 640 may be one or more. For example, in the configuration shown in fig. 6A-6D, the number of suction cups 640 is 2, including a first suction cup 640-1 and a second suction cup 640-1. A first suction cup 640-1 is on one side of the drive mechanism; the second suction cup is arranged on the other side of the driving mechanism opposite to the first suction cup. In some embodiments, the distance between the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2 is adjustable to accommodate targets of different shapes and sizes (e.g., tobacco leaves of different shapes and sizes).

The clamping jaw 620 may include a plurality of clamping jaws. When the robot arm moves and aligns the tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism 131 with the target tobacco leaf on the conveyor and turns the tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism to a suitable angle, the suction cup 640 first generates a negative pressure to suck the target tobacco leaf, and then the clamping jaw 620 is closed to grasp or hold the target tobacco leaf.

The number of the clamping jaws 620 may be plural for the above purpose. Such as the configuration shown in fig. 6A-6E, the jaws include a first jaw 620-1 and a second jaw 620-2. Of course, the number of the clamping jaws 620 may be 3 or more, which is not limited in the present application.

The first jaw 620-1 may be generally a cantilever beam structure or any other equivalent structure. The first jaw 620-1 may include a free end ("first free end") 630-1 and a pivot end ("first pivot end") 631-1. The first pivot end 631-1 may be pivotally connected to the base 600 such that the first pivot end 631-1 may pivot along the first pivot shaft 661-1. The first free end 630-1 may be an elongated flat plate structure, referred to as a first jaw. The long side direction of the long strip-shaped flat plate structure is parallel to the first pivot shaft 661-1, and the size of the long strip-shaped flat plate structure can be designed according to the size of common tobacco leaves (or target objects).

The second jaw 620-2 may be arranged symmetrically with the first jaw 620-1 with respect to the driver 610. For example, the second jaw 620-2 may be generally a cantilever beam structure or any other equivalent structure that may be shaped the same as the first jaw 620-1. The second jaw 620-2 may include a free end ("second free end") 630-2 and a pivot end ("second pivot end") 631-2. The second pivot end 631-2 may be pivotally connected to the base 600, but may be located opposite the first pivot end 631-1 relative to the actuator 610. The second pivot end 631-2 can pivot along the second pivot shaft 661-2. The second free end 630-2 may be an elongated flat plate structure, referred to as a second jaw. The long side direction of the long strip-shaped flat plate structure is parallel to the second pivot shaft 661-2, and the size of the long strip-shaped flat plate structure can be designed according to the size of common tobacco leaves (or target objects). Further, the second pivot shaft 661-2 may be parallel to the first pivot shaft 661-1.

The driver 610 may drive the first jaw 620-1 and the second jaw 620-2 to open or close. To this end, the tobacco leaf retrieving mechanism may further include a first crank 650-1 and a second crank 650-2. The first crank 650-1 may be rod-shaped and include a first crank end and a second crank end. The first crank end may be pivotally connected to the piston rod 612 of the actuator 610 by a pivot 663-1. The second crank end may be pivotally connected to the first jaw 620-1 by a pivot 662-1. Wherein the pivot 662-1 may be somewhere in the middle of the first jaw 620-1. Thus, the driver 610 (or piston rod 612), the first crank 650-1, the first jaw 620-1 and the base 600 together form a first crank-slider mechanism. When the driver 600 drives the piston rod 612 to perform a linear motion, the first crank end 663-1 follows the linear motion of the piston rod 612, so as to drive the first clamping jaw 620-1 to perform a pivotal motion around the first pivot shaft 661-1 (the "first pivot" θ₁). The second crank 650-2 may be rod-shaped and include a third crank end and a fourth crank end. The third crank end may be pivotally connected to the piston rod 612 of the actuator 610 by a pivot 663-2. The fourth crank end may be pivotally connected to the second jaw 620-2 by a pivot 662-2. Wherein the pivot 662-2 may be somewhere in the middle of the second jaw 620-2. Thus, the driver 610 (or piston rod 612), the second crank 650-2, the second jaw 620-2 and the base 600 together form a second crank slideAnd a block mechanism. When the actuator 600 drives the piston rod 612 to perform the linear movement, the third crank end 663-2 follows the linear movement of the piston rod 612, so as to drive the second clamping jaw 620-2 to perform a pivotal movement around the second pivot shaft 661-2 (the "second pivot" θ₂). When the first crank block mechanism and the second crank block mechanism are same in size and symmetrical in position, the first pivoting direction is opposite to the second pivoting direction, namely theta₁＝-θ₂. Thus, the driver 610 drives the opening and closing of the jaws 620 through linear motion of the piston rod 612.

When the first jaw 620-1 and the second jaw 620-2 are opened, the first jaw 630-1 is positioned on one side ("first side") of the suction cup 640 and the second jaw 630-2 is positioned on the opposite side ("second side") of the suction cup 640.

When the first clamping jaw 620-1 and the second clamping jaw 620-2 are closed, the first clamping jaw 630-1 is located below the suction cup 640, and is a preset distance away from the suction cup. Further, the elongated plate structure of the first jaw 630-1 faces the suction cups 640 and is in a horizontal posture (i.e., the plane of the plate structure is parallel to the conveyor belt) so as to hold the target tobacco leaves (or the target objects) from below when the suction cups 640 hold the target tobacco leaves. Meanwhile, when the first clamping jaw 620-1 and the second clamping jaw 620-2 are closed, the second clamping jaw 620-2 is also located below the suction cup 640, and is spaced from the suction cup 640 by the preset distance. Further, the elongated flat plate structure of the second jaw 630-2 faces the suction cups 640 and is in a horizontal posture (i.e., the plane of the flat plate structure is parallel to the conveyor belt) so as to hold the target tobacco leaves (or the target objects) from below when the suction cups 640 hold the target tobacco leaves. Accordingly, the structure shown in fig. 6A to 6E can prevent the target tobacco from falling off due to the suction cups 640 not sucking the target tobacco.

For a better description of the first and second operating states, a brief description of the operation of the tobacco-leaf-retrieving mechanism 131 is provided here. The driver 610 controls the jaws 630-1, 630-2 to be positioned to the side of the suction cup 640 before the target tobacco is captured by the tobacco retrieving mechanism 131. At this time, there is no shielding object under the suction cup 640, and the suction cup 640 may directly contact the tobacco leaves on the conveyor belt, thereby adsorbing the target tobacco leaves. When the suction cup 640 sucks the target tobacco, the driver 610 controls the clip to be positioned under the suction cup 640 (i.e., under the sucked tobacco). According to the grade information of the target tobacco leaves, the mechanical arm can drive the tobacco leaf obtaining mechanism 131 to directly transport the target tobacco leaves to the upper part of the corresponding target conveyor belt, then the suction cups 640 release the tobacco leaves, and then the target conveyor belt transports the target tobacco leaves to the corresponding target sorting collector 132; or directly convey the target tobacco leaves into the target sorting collector 132. Alternatively, when the suction cup 640 sucks the target tobacco, the driver 610 controls the clips 630-1 and 630-2 to be positioned below the suction cup 640 (i.e., below the sucked target tobacco), and the suction cup 640 releases the suction of the target tobacco. The target tobacco leaves are thus dropped onto the clips located therebelow, transported by the clips onto the target conveyor and then transported by the target conveyor into the target sorting collector 132. In the former case, when the suction cups 640 are not firmly adsorbed to the target tobacco leaves, so that the tobacco leaves fall, the clips can hold the target tobacco leaves, and convey the tobacco leaves to a target conveyor belt or a target sorting collector, thereby ensuring the reliability of the conveyance of the target tobacco leaves. In the second case, the suction cup 640 is only used for sucking up and separating the target tobacco leaves from the conveyor belt, and the target tobacco leaves are transported by the clips, so that the damage caused by the suction of the suction cup 640 to the target tobacco leaves is reduced while the transportation reliability is ensured.

As can be seen from the above, the first working state is after the suction cup 640 sucks the tobacco leaves. At this time, the clip is located under the suction cup 640 for lifting the target tobacco. The second working state is before the suction cup 640 adsorbs the target tobacco leaves. At this time, the clamping pieces are located at the sides of the suction cups 640 to provide a contact space for the suction cups 640 to adsorb the target tobacco leaves.

In some embodiments, the jaws may include a first jaw 620-1 and a second jaw 620-2, which may include a first jaw 630-1 and a second jaw 630-2, the first jaw 620-1 being connected to the driver 610 and the second jaw 620-2 being connected to the driver 610. When the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw are closed, the driver 610 controls the first clamping jaw 630-1 and the second clamping jaw 630-2 to be simultaneously positioned below the suction cup 640 through the first clamping jaw 620-1 and the second clamping jaw 620-2; when the first and second jaws are opened, the driver 610 controls the first and second jaws 630-1 and 630-2 to be located at the sides of the suction cup 640 through the first and second jaws 620-1 and 620-2.

When the first jaw 630-1 and the second jaw 630-2 are simultaneously positioned under the suction cup 640, the driver 610 may control the distance between the first jaw 630-1 and the second jaw 630-2. The distance may be adjusted according to the size of the target tobacco leaves to be adsorbed by the suction cups 640, so that the tobacco leaf taking mechanism 131 may adsorb and transport the target tobacco leaves of various sizes. For example, when the width of each of the first jaw 630-1 and the second jaw 630-2 is 10 cm and the maximum width of the target tobacco leaf is 30 cm, the driver 610 may control the distance between the first jaw 630-1 and the second jaw 630-2 to be greater than 10 cm and less than 30 cm, such as 12 cm.

When the first jaw 630-1 and the second jaw 630-2 are simultaneously located under the suction cup 640, the driver 610 may control the first jaw 630-1 and the second jaw 630-2 to be located on the same horizontal plane, so as to reduce damage to the target tobacco leaf caused by the jaws during lifting.

In some embodiments, the suction cups 640 include a first suction cup 640-1 and a second suction cup 640-2. Compared with one sucker, the two suckers have small damage to the target tobacco leaves and better adsorption force when adsorbing the target tobacco leaves. This is because, when the tobacco leaf taking mechanism 131 has only one suction cup, the suction cup generally sucks the middle portion of the target tobacco leaf, both ends of the target tobacco leaf droop due to gravity at this time, the entire target tobacco leaf is in an inverted "v" shape, and the target tobacco leaf is easily deformed while the target tobacco leaf is not in close contact with the suction cup. And when the tobacco leaf obtaining mechanism 131 includes two suction cups, the two suction cups generally respectively suck the two ends of the target tobacco leaf, at this time, the whole target tobacco leaf is linear, and the suction force of the two suction cups to the target tobacco leaf is better.

When the clamping jaw 620 is closed, the driver 610 controls the clamping jaw to be positioned below the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2; when the jaws are open, the driver 610 causes the jaws to be positioned to the side of the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2.

The jaw closure occurs after the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2 have adsorbed the target tobacco leaf. At this time, the jaws are positioned under the first and second suction cups 640-1 and 640-2 for lifting the target tobacco. The jaw opening occurs before the first and second suction cups 640-1 and 640-2 suck the target tobacco leaves and after the target tobacco leaves are transported to the target conveyor or the target sorting collector. At this time, the clamping pieces are positioned at the sides of the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2 to provide a contact space for the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2 to suck or release the target tobacco leaves.

In some cases, the distance between the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2 may be adjustable. For example, according to the above description, the suction cups are coupled to the lower portion of the driver 610, and the distance between the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2 is adjustable when the length of the coupling member between the suction cups and the driver 610 is variable.

When the distance between the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2 is adjustable, the distance between two positions where the two suction cups adsorb the same target tobacco leaf is adjustable, so that the adsorption of the two suction cups on the target tobacco leaf is more reliable and safer. For example, when the length of the target tobacco leaf is 51 cm, the distance between the first suction cup 640-1 and the second suction cup 640-2 can be adjusted to 17 cm, so that the two suction cups can uniformly suck the target tobacco leaf, and the whole target tobacco leaf is linear without the inverted "v" shape described above.

In conclusion, upon reading the present detailed disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing detailed disclosure can be presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present application is intended to cover various reasonable variations, adaptations, and modifications of the embodiments described herein, although not explicitly described herein. Such alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

Furthermore, certain terminology has been used in this application to describe embodiments of the disclosure. For example, "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the disclosure.

It should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of the subject disclosure. This application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains. This is not to be taken as an admission that any of the features of the claims are essential, and it is fully possible for a person skilled in the art to extract some of them as separate embodiments when reading the present application. That is, embodiments in the present application may also be understood as an integration of multiple sub-embodiments. And each sub-embodiment described herein is equally applicable to less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.

In some embodiments, numbers expressing quantities or properties used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the application are to be understood as being modified in certain instances by the term "about", "approximately" or "substantially". For example, "about," "approximately," or "substantially" can mean a ± 20% variation of the value it describes, unless otherwise specified. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the embodiments of the application are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible.

Each patent, patent application, publication of a patent application, and other material, such as articles, books, descriptions, publications, documents, articles, and the like, cited herein is hereby incorporated by reference. All matters hithertofore set forth herein except as related to any prosecution history, may be inconsistent or conflicting with this document or any prosecution history which may have a limiting effect on the broadest scope of the claims. Now or later associated with this document. For example, if there is any inconsistency or conflict in the description, definition, and/or use of terms associated with any of the included materials with respect to the terms, descriptions, definitions, and/or uses associated with this document, the terms in this document are used.

Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments of the application disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of the present application. Other modified embodiments are also within the scope of the present application. Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments are presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Those skilled in the art can implement the invention in the present application in alternative configurations according to the embodiments in the present application. Thus, embodiments of the present application are not limited to those embodiments described with accuracy in the application.

Claims

1. A mechanical device for obtaining a sheet-like article, characterized in that it comprises,

a base;

a suction cup mounted on the base;

a first jaw comprising:

a first pivot end mounted on the base and pivotable along a first pivot axis,

the first free end comprises a first clamping piece, the first clamping piece is of a long strip-shaped flat plate structure, and the long edge of the first clamping piece is parallel to the first pivot shaft;

a second jaw comprising:

a second pivot end mounted on the base and pivotable along a second pivot axis, an

The second free end comprises a second clamping piece, the second clamping piece is of a long strip-shaped flat plate structure, and the long edge of the second clamping piece is parallel to the second pivot shaft; and

and the driver is arranged on the base and is respectively and mechanically connected with the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw so as to drive the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw to open or close.

2. The mechanical device of claim 1, further comprising:

a first crank, comprising:

a first crank end pivotally connected to the driver, an

A second crank end pivotally connected to the first jaw; and

a second crank, comprising:

a third crank end pivotally connected to the driver, an

A fourth crank end pivotally connected to the second jaw.

3. The mechanical device of claim 2,

the driver, the first crank, the first clamping jaw and the base form a first crank-slider mechanism,

the driver is configured to drive the first crank end to move linearly, thereby driving the first clamping jaw to perform a first pivot around the first pivot shaft,

the driver, the second crank, the second clamping jaw and the base form a second crank-slider mechanism,

the driver is configured to drive the third crank end to move linearly, so as to drive the second clamping jaw to perform a second pivot around the second pivot shaft, and the second pivot is opposite to the first pivot.

4. The mechanical device of claim 1, wherein when the first jaw and the second jaw are closed:

the first clamping piece is positioned below the sucker and is a preset distance away from the sucker, so that when the sucker sucks an object with an uneven planar structure, the object is supported from the lower side; and

the second clamping piece is located below the sucker and is away from the sucker by the preset distance, so that the sucker can hold the object from the lower side when holding the object.

5. The mechanical device of claim 4, wherein when the first jaw and the second jaw are closed:

the strip-shaped flat plate structure of the first clamping piece faces the sucker; and

the strip-shaped flat plate structure of the second clamping piece faces the sucker.

6. The mechanical device of claim 4, wherein when the first jaw and the second jaw are closed:

the strip-shaped flat plate structure of the first clamping piece is in a horizontal posture; and

the strip-shaped flat plate structure of the second clamping piece is in a horizontal posture.

7. The mechanical device of claim 4, wherein, when the first jaw and the second jaw are open:

the first clamping piece is located on a first side of the sucker, the second clamping piece is located on a second side of the sucker, and the first side is opposite to the second side.

8. The mechanical device of claim 1, wherein the suction cup comprises:

a first suction cup on one side of the driver; and

a second suction cup on the other side of the driver opposite to the first suction cup,

wherein the distance between the first sucker and the second sucker is adjustable.

9. The mechanical apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a robotic arm, the base mounted on the robotic arm.

10. The mechanical device of claim 9,

the mechanical arm comprises a suspension mechanism, the suspension mechanism is connected with a motor,

the base is mounted on the suspension mechanism,

the motor drives the base to rotate when working.