CN114476613A - A single piece separation system, sorting equipment and sorting method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a single piece separating system, sorting equipment and a sorting method thereof. The single piece separation system includes at least a first conveyor belt and a second conveyor belt. The feeding end of the second conveying belt is positioned below the discharging end of the first conveying belt, and a preset fall is formed between the feeding end of the second conveying belt and the discharging end of the first conveying belt and used for separating packages conveyed in an overlapped mode; the second conveying direction and the first conveying direction are provided with a first preset included angle for adjusting the packages conveyed side by side to be conveyed in a front-back mode. According to the invention, through the relative position relationship between the adjacent conveying belts, the sorting effect of the sorting system is improved, the structure of the sorting system is simplified, and the phenomena of overlapping conveying of packages and side-by-side conveying of the packages in the single piece separation system are effectively reduced.

Description

A single piece separation system, sorting equipment and sorting method thereof

technical field

The invention relates to the field of automatic sorting equipment, and further relates to a single-piece separation system, sorting equipment and sorting method thereof.

Background technique

In modern express and logistics automation systems, the application of automatic sorting equipment technology is becoming more and more extensive. The function of single-piece separation equipment in the automatic sorting process is to separate a pile of randomly stacked express packages or items into single pieces. , open the appropriate spacing, and arrange them in a row to convey to subsequent equipment for automatic identification, weighing, sorting and other automated operations.

However, in the prior art, most sorting devices have complex structures and high manufacturing costs, and due to the large volume of the automatic sorting devices, the requirements for the installation site of the devices are relatively high, which further increases the initial cost. In addition, in the case of a large amount of packages and different sizes of packages, it is easy to have overlapping packages and side-by-side transportation of packages, which increases the difficulty of sorting.

To sum up, the existing sorting equipment needs to be improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above technical problems, the purpose of the present invention is to improve the sorting effect of the sorting system, simplify the structure of the sorting system, and effectively reduce the phenomenon of overlapping delivery of packages and side-by-side delivery of packages in the single-piece separation system.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a single-piece separation system, comprising: a first conveying belt having a first conveying direction; a second conveying belt having a second conveying direction; The material end is located below the discharge end of the first conveyor belt, and the infeed end of the second conveyor belt and the discharge end of the first conveyor belt have a preset drop for separating the overlapping conveyed packages; The second conveying direction and the first conveying direction have a first preset angle, which is used to adjust the packages conveyed side by side to be conveyed back and forth.

In some embodiments, the single-piece separation system further comprises: a first drive for driving the first conveyor belt to a first conveying speed; a second drive for driving the second conveyor belt to a second conveying speed speed; several sensors for detecting the original distance and position information of the first package and the second package conveyed adjacently before and after the surface of the first conveyor belt; a controller, with the sensor, the first driver and the second driver The first conveying speed and/or the second conveying speed are adjusted through the original distance and the position information, so that the distance between the first package and the second package is equal to a preset distance.

In some embodiments, a plurality of the sensors include: a plurality of first sensors installed on the first conveyor belt; a plurality of second sensors installed on the second conveyor belt; wherein, when the first sensors The first conveying speed is reduced to less than the second conveying speed, or the second conveying speed is increased to be greater than the first conveying speed, until the original spacing increases to a preset spacing; or until the second package falls to the second conveyor belt Then, according to the distance and position information between the second package and its subsequent adjacent packages, the first conveying speed and/or the second conveying speed are re-adjusted; when the first sensor detects that the original distance is greater than a preset distance, and then the second sensor detects that the first package has fallen onto the second conveyor, the first conveying speed is increased to be greater than the second conveying speed, or the second conveying speed is reduced to less than the the first conveying speed until the original distance is reduced to a preset distance; or until the second package is dropped to the second conveyor belt, according to the distance between the second package and its subsequent adjacent packages and position information, readjust the first conveying speed and/or the second conveying speed.

In some embodiments, the first sensor is installed on at least one side of the first conveyor belt along the first conveying direction, and the discharge end of the first conveyor belt; and/or the first conveyor belt The two sensors are installed at least on one side of the second conveyor belt along the second conveying direction and on the discharge end of the second conveyor belt.

In some embodiments, the single-piece separation system further comprises: a third conveyor belt having a third conveying direction; wherein the infeed end of the third conveyor belt is located below the outfeed end of the second conveyor belt, The feeding end of the third conveyor belt and the discharging end of the second conveyor belt have a preset drop, which is used to separate the overlapping conveyed packages; the third conveying direction and the second conveying direction have a second difference. Preset included angles for adjusting side-by-side packages to front-to-back.

In some embodiments, the first preset angle and the second preset angle are located on the same side of the first conveyor belt, so that the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt and the The third conveyor belt is arranged in a convoluted shape.

In some embodiments, the first preset angle and the second preset angle are located on opposite sides of the first conveyor belt, so that the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt and the The third conveyor belt is arranged in a zigzag shape.

In some embodiments, the first preset included angle is a right angle, and the discharge end of the first conveyor belt overlaps with the edge of the baffle at the infeed end of the second conveyor belt.

A sorting device, comprising any one of the single-piece separation systems described above, further comprising: a feeding conveyor belt, the discharge end of the feeding conveyor belt is connected to the feeding end of the first conveyor belt , which is used for batch inputting packages; the discharging conveyor belt is used for outputting the packages arranged by the single-piece separation system to the subsequent system.

In some embodiments, the infeed conveyor belt and the outfeed conveyor belt are arranged in the same direction, and the outfeed end of the infeed conveyor belt is located above the infeed end of the outfeed conveyor belt, with a predetermined distance between them. There is an installation space for the single-piece separation system; the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt and the third conveyor belt are connected at the first position, and are arranged horizontally from high to low, and the first conveyor belt is fed with materials. The end is located below the discharge end of the infeed conveyor belt, and the discharge end of the third conveyor belt is located above the infeed end of the discharge conveyor belt.

In some embodiments, the sorting device further comprises: a fourth conveyor belt, which is arranged horizontally with the outfeed conveyor belt, and the fourth conveyor belt, the infeed conveyor belt and the outfeed conveyor belt are located at The same vertical plane; wherein, the feeding end of the fourth conveyor belt is located at the discharging end of the third conveyor belt, and the discharging end of the fourth conveyor belt is in phase with the feeding end of the discharging conveyor belt connected, and the third conveyor belt is perpendicular to the fourth conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt is perpendicular to the third conveyor belt, the first conveyor belt is perpendicular to the second conveyor belt and the feed conveyor belt.

A sorting method, applicable to any of the sorting equipment described above, includes the following steps:

Step 1: use the first sensor to detect the original distance between the first package and the second package conveyed adjacently before and after the surface of the first conveyor belt;

Step 2: detecting the time period during which the first package has reached the second conveyor belt, but the second package has not reached the second conveyor belt by the first sensor and/or the second sensor;

Step 3: Adjust the transmission speed of the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt by comparing the difference between the original spacing and the preset spacing, until the spacing between the first package and the second package is equal to the preset spacing, or the first package and the second package exit the first conveyor;

Step 4: The first conveyor belt readjusts the transmission speed according to the package spacing after the second package, and the second conveyor belt readjusts the transmission speed according to the package spacing before the second package.

In some embodiments, the step 3 includes:

If the original distance is greater than the preset distance, the first conveyor belt is accelerated, and/or the second conveyor belt is decelerated or paused;

If the original distance is smaller than the preset distance, the first conveyor belt is decelerated or paused, and/or the second conveyor belt is accelerated;

If the original distance is equal to the preset distance, the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt maintain the original transmission speed.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has at least one of the following beneficial effects:

1. In the present invention, the feed end of the second conveyor belt is arranged below the discharge end of the first conveyor belt, so that the feed end of the second conveyor belt and the discharge end of the first conveyor belt have a preset drop. Then, during the process of the overlapping packages entering the second conveyor belt from the first conveyor belt, they fall to different positions on the surface of the second conveyor belt due to the influence of gravity and inertia, so that they are separated from each other;

2. In the present invention, the second conveying direction of the second conveying belt and the first conveying direction of the first conveying belt have a first preset angle in the process of assembling the first conveying belt and the second conveying belt, so that the After the parcels conveyed side by side on the surface of the first conveyor belt reach the second conveyor belt, the positions of the parcels are arranged in sequence, and the parcels conveyed side by side are adjusted to be conveyed forward and backward;

3. On the one hand, the distance and position of the package are detected by the sensor and sent to the controller; on the other hand, the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt are calculated and controlled by the controller to adjust the conveying speed of the conveyor belts so that adjacent During the process of wrapping completely from the first conveyor belt into the second conveyor belt, adjust the spacing between the two packages to make it reach the preset spacing;

4. In the present invention, by further adding a third conveyor belt at the output end of the second conveyor belt, the packages conveyed by the single-piece separation system can be separated twice, further reducing the phenomenon of package overlap and side-by-side transportation, and making adjacent packages, etc. distance conveying;

5. In the present invention, the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt and the third conveyor belt are connected at the first positions, and are arranged horizontally from high to low between the discharge end of the feed conveyor belt and the infeed end of the discharge conveyor belt. , which can effectively eliminate the overlapping and side-by-side delivery of packages on the surface of the feed conveyor belt, and adjust the spacing between adjacent packages;

6. On the one hand of the present invention, by connecting the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt, the third conveyor belt and the fourth conveyor belt at the first position, they are arranged horizontally at the discharge end and the discharge end of the feeding conveyor belt from high to low. Between the feeding ends of the conveyor belt, it can effectively eliminate the overlapping and side-by-side delivery of the packages on the surface of the feeding conveyor belt, and adjust the spacing between adjacent packages; The conveyor belts are vertically arranged from high to low, and are arranged in a convoluted shape, which can reduce the overall width of the sorting equipment and reduce the floor space of the equipment;

7. The present invention detects that adjacent parcels are separated by adjacent conveyor belts (for example: the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt and the third conveyor belt, the third conveyor belt and the fourth conveyor belt) through the sensor detection When the time gap is opened, the controller accurately converts the interval and position information of the adjacent packages into the speed control signal of the adjacent conveyor belt, so as to complete the adjustment of the package spacing within the above time gap. Ingenious conception, simple structure and high accuracy.

Description of drawings

The preferred embodiments will be described below in a clear and easy-to-understand manner with reference to the accompanying drawings to further illustrate the above-mentioned characteristics, technical features, advantages and implementations of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is an embodiment of the single-piece separation system of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is the left side view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is another embodiment of the one-piece separation system of the present invention (left-handed swiveling arrangement);

Fig. 4 is the left side view of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is the top view of Fig. 3;

FIG. 6 is another embodiment of the single-piece separation system of the present invention (right-handed setting);

Figure 7 is another embodiment of the single-piece separation system of the present invention (zigzag arrangement);

Fig. 8 is the front view of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is the top view of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is another embodiment of the one-piece separation system of the present invention (linear arrangement);

Fig. 11 is an embodiment of the sorting device of the present invention;

Fig. 12 is the front view of Fig. 11;

Figure 13 is a top view of Figure 11;

Fig. 14 is an embodiment of the sorting method of the present invention;

Fig. 15 is another embodiment of the sorting method of the present invention;

Fig. 16 is another embodiment of the sorting method of the present invention.

Description of reference numbers:

Single-piece separation system 100;

a first conveyor belt 110, a first conveying direction 111, a first driver 112;

The second conveyor belt 120, the second conveying direction 121, the second driver 122, the first preset angle 123;

The third conveyor belt 130, the third conveying direction 131, the third driver 132, the second preset angle 133;

the fourth conveyor belt 140;

sensor 150, first sensor 151, second sensor 152;

baffle 160; preset drop 170;

Sorting equipment 200, infeed conveyor belt 210, and outfeed conveyor belt 220;

Package 300.

Detailed ways

In order to more clearly describe the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained from these drawings without creative efforts, and obtain other implementations.

For the sake of brevity of the drawings, only the parts relevant to the invention are schematically shown in each drawing, and they do not represent the actual structure as a product. In addition, in order to make the drawings concise and easy to understand, in some drawings, only one of the components having the same structure or function is schematically shown, or only one of them is marked. As used herein, "one" not only means "only one", but also "more than one".

It should also be further understood that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the term "and/or" refers to and including any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items .

In this article, it should be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed connection or a detachable connection, or It can be connected in one piece; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be internal communication between two components. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific situations.

In addition, in the description of the present application, the terms "first", "second" and the like are only used to distinguish the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

The present invention discloses a single-piece separation system 100, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 10, the single-piece separation system 100 includes a first conveyor belt 110 and a second conveyor belt 120 that are continuously arranged, and the first conveyor belt 110 has a first conveyor belt 110. The conveying direction 111 and the second conveyor belt 120 have a second conveying direction 121 . It should be noted that, the above-mentioned first transmission belt 110 and second transmission belt 120 and the transmission belts in other embodiments may be either belt transmission belts, roller transmission belts, or other types of transmission belts in the prior art. The first conveying direction 111 and the second conveying direction 121 refer to the respective overall conveying directions of the first conveying belt 110 and the second conveying belt 120 . The length directions of the conveyor belt 110 and the second conveyor belt 120 are the same. However, in a few rare cases, since the surface of the conveyor belt has multiple groups of sub-conveyor belts with different directions, the conveying direction of the conveying belt at this time refers to the overall conveying direction of the conveying belt.

It should be noted that, in order to facilitate the description of the positional relationship and control logic between different conveyor belts, the first conveyor belt 110 , the second conveyor belt 120 , the third conveyor belt 130 or the None of the fourth conveyor belts 140 is unique. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that, on the premise that the provisions of the corresponding embodiments are met, the above conveyor belts may refer to any group of conveyor belts in the single-piece separation system. Similarly, the first package or the second package defined in this embodiment and subsequent embodiments only represents a group of packages with a specific mutual relationship, and also does not have uniqueness. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above first package and second package may represent any group of packages conveyed by the single-piece separation system that are adjacent to each other, side by side, or overlapped with each other.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the infeed end of the second conveyor belt 120 is located below the outfeed end of the first conveyor belt 110 , and the infeed end of the second conveyor belt 120 and the discharge end of the first conveyor belt 110 have The preset drop 170 is used to separate the overlapping packages 300 . In this technical solution, by arranging the feeding end of the second conveyor belt 120 below the discharging end of the first conveyor belt 110, the feeding end of the second conveyor belt 120 and the discharging end of the first conveyor belt 110 have a predetermined Set the drop to 170. Then, during the process of entering the second conveyor belt 120 from the first conveyor belt 110, the overlapping packages 300 will fall to different positions on the surface of the second conveyor belt 120 under the influence of gravity and inertia, so that the overlapping packages 300 can be 300 technical effects of phase separation.

The second conveying direction 121 and the first conveying direction 111 have a first predetermined angle 123 for adjusting the packages 300 conveyed side by side to be conveyed forward and backward. In this technical solution, during the process of installing the first transmission belt 110 and the second transmission belt 120, the second conveying direction 121 of the second conveying belt 120 and the first conveying direction 111 of the first conveying belt 110 have the first A preset included angle 123, so that the packages 300 conveyed side by side on the surface of the first conveyor belt 110 reach the second conveyor belt 120 successively, so as to change the position of the packages 300, so as to realize the technical effect of adjusting the side-by-side packages 300 to be conveyed forward and backward .

It should be noted that the preset drop 170 can be adjusted according to the average size of the packages 300 to be sorted in the same batch. In order to ensure the sorting effect, the preset drop 170 is preferably not lower than the maximum height of most packages 300 . For example, the maximum height of most sorted packages does not exceed 20 cm, which can make the preset drop 170 greater than 20 cm. In addition, the above-mentioned first preset angle 123 and the second preset angle 133 in other embodiments both refer to the angle between the butt joints of two adjacent conveyor belts. And as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 9 , the first preset angle 123 or the second preset angle 133 is preferably a right angle; as shown in FIG. 10 , the first preset angle 123 or the second preset angle 133 133 also includes flat angles.

Specifically, the first transmission belt 110 and the second transmission belt 120 in the above embodiment, and the third transmission belt 130 and the fourth transmission belt 140 in the subsequent embodiments are preferably composed of brackets, transmission belts, baffles 160, Servo motor, controller and sensor 150 are composed.

Among them, the bracket plays a supporting role and supports the transmission belt to the specified height; the servo motor, servo driver and sensor 150 form a closed-loop servo system, which is used to control the speed of the transmission belt to realize the sorting of parcels 300, and the sensor 150 can be installed on the transmission belt. The inner side of the baffles 160 on both sides; the baffles 160 are installed on both sides of the transmission belt and one side of the feeding end, and the baffles 160 are not installed on the side of the discharge end of the transmission belt away from the feeding end, which is convenient for conveying out Package 300. The above-mentioned baffle plate 160 not only has a certain height, but also has a certain inclination. At the connection of the first transmission belt 110 and the second transmission belt 120, the connection of the second transmission belt 120 and the third transmission belt 130, and the connection of the third transmission belt 130 and the fourth transmission belt 140, the current transmission The outlet end of the belt overlaps the upper edge of the baffle plate 160 at the inlet end of the adjacent downstream conveying belt. When the adjacent conveyor belts are arranged in a line, the discharge end of the current conveyor belt overlaps the upper edge of the baffle 160 on the side of the adjacent downstream conveyor belt that is far away from the discharge end. When set in a Z-shape, the discharge end of the current conveyor belt overlaps the upper edges of the baffles 160 on both sides of the feed end of the adjacent downstream conveyor belt.

In one embodiment, referring to Figures 1 and 2, the single-piece separation system 100 described above further includes a first driver 112, a second driver 122, a number of sensors 150, and a controller. Wherein, the first driver 112 is used to drive the first conveyor belt 110 to the first conveying speed; the second driver 122 is used to drive the second conveyor belt 120 to the second conveying speed. A number of sensors 150 are used to detect the original distance and position information of the first package and the second package conveyed adjacently before and after the surface of the first conveyor belt 110 . The controller is connected in communication with the sensor 150, the first driver 112 and the second driver 122, and adjusts the first conveying speed and/or the second conveying speed through the above-mentioned original distance and position information, so as to make the first package and the second package The spacing is equal to the preset spacing. It should be noted that, similar in structure and function to the first conveyor belt 110 and the second conveyor belt 120 , the third conveyor belt 130 has a third driver 132 that is communicatively connected to the controller, and the fourth conveyor belt 140 has a communication connection to the controller. the fourth drive. Each conveyor belt has the ability to operate independently, and the conveying speed of the adjacent conveyor belts is uniformly regulated by the controller according to the feedback signal of the sensor 150 .

In one embodiment, the sensor 150 includes a sensor array installed on each conveyor belt, that is, a plurality of first sensors 151 installed on the first conveyor belt 110 and a plurality of second sensors installed on the second conveyor belt 120 152. It should be noted that the above-mentioned sensor 150 may be an infrared through-beam sensor, a reflective infrared sensor, a scattering infrared sensor, a camera, or a depth camera, or the like. In the embodiments of the present invention, an infrared through-beam sensor is used as an example for description.

The working principle of the first sensor 151 and the second sensor 152 includes: when the first sensor 151 detects that the original distance is smaller than the preset distance, and then the first sensor 151 or the second sensor 152 detects that the first package is dropped to the second conveyance When the belt is 120, the first conveying speed is reduced to be lower than the second conveying speed, or the second conveying speed is increased to be greater than the first conveying speed, until the original distance is increased to a preset distance. At this time, if there is an adjacent package behind the second package, the first sensor 151 continues to detect the distance between the second package and its subsequent adjacent packages, and feeds back to the controller to readjust the first conveying speed and the second conveying speed, and sequentially analogy.

When the first sensor 151 detects that the original distance is greater than the preset distance, and then the first sensor 151 or the second sensor 152 detects that the first package is dropped to the second conveyor belt 120, the first conveying speed is increased to be greater than the second conveying speed speed, or the second conveying speed is reduced to be smaller than the first conveying speed until the original distance is reduced to a preset distance, and the first conveying speed and the second conveying speed are adjusted to the same speed. Similarly, if there is an adjacent package behind the second package, the first sensor 151 continues to detect the distance between the second package and its subsequent adjacent packages, and feeds back to the controller to readjust the first conveying speed and the second conveying speed, and sequentially analogy.

In one embodiment, the first sensor 151 is installed on at least one side of the first conveyor belt 110 and the discharge end of the first conveyor belt 110 along the first conveying direction 111 . Specifically, some of the first sensors 151 can be installed on the baffles 160 on either side of the first conveyor belt 110 to detect the distance and position information between adjacent packages. As shown in FIG. 2 , FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 , another part of the first sensor 151 can be installed at the discharge end of the first conveyor belt 110 ; The conveying direction 111 extends above the feeding end of the second conveyor belt 120 , so as to detect whether the package falls to the second conveyor belt 120 more accurately and in a timely manner.

Similarly, the second sensor 152 is installed on at least one side of the second conveyor belt 120 and the discharge end of the second conveyor belt 120 along the second conveying direction 121 . Specifically, some of the second sensors 152 can be installed on the baffles 160 on either side of the second conveyor belt 120 to detect the distance and position information between adjacent packages. Another part of the second sensor 152 can be installed at the discharge end of the second conveyor belt 120; preferably, the part of the second sensor 152 can be fed by extending the sensing area of the part of the second sensor 152 to the third conveyor belt 130 along the second conveying direction 121 above the end, so as to more accurately and timely detect whether the package falls to the third conveyor belt 130, and so on.

In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 3 to FIG. 10 , this embodiment adds a third conveyor belt 130 on the basis of the above-mentioned embodiment. The infeed end of the third conveyor belt 130 is located below the outfeed end of the second conveyor belt 120 , and the infeed end of the third conveyor belt 130 and the discharge end of the second conveyor belt 120 have a preset drop 170 for separating and overlapping Delivered packages 300. The third conveying direction 131 and the second conveying direction 121 have a second preset angle 133 for adjusting the packages 300 that are conveyed side by side to be conveyed back and forth. The preset drop 170 and the second preset angle 133 in this embodiment are similar to the preset drop 170 and the first preset angle 123 in the foregoing embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

In one embodiment, the single-piece separation system 100 includes a first conveyor belt 110, a second conveyor belt 120 and a third conveyor belt 130, which have at least four setting modes: left-handed, right-handed, and zig-zag. settings as well as linear settings. Wherein, the left convolution setting and the right convolution setting may be collectively referred to as the convolution setting.

As shown in FIG. 3 , FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , when the single-piece separating system 100 is arranged in a left-handed manner, the first preset angle 123 and the second preset angle 133 are located on the same side of the first conveyor belt 110 , the first conveying direction 111 is rightward and the third conveying direction 131 is leftward, so that the first conveying belt 110 , the second conveying belt 120 and the third conveying belt 130 are arranged in a clockwise rotation.

As shown in FIG. 6 , when the single-piece separation system 100 is set in a right-handed rotation, the first preset angle 123 and the second preset angle 133 are located on the same side of the first conveyor belt 110 , and the first conveying direction 111 To the left and the third conveying direction 131 to the right, so that the first conveyor belt 110 , the second conveyor belt 120 and the third conveyor belt 130 are arranged in a counterclockwise rotation.

As shown in FIG. 7 , FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 , when the single-piece separation system 100 is arranged in a zigzag shape, the first preset angle 123 and the second preset angle 133 are located on opposite sides of the first conveyor belt 110 side, so that the first conveyor belt 110, the second conveyor belt 120 and the third conveyor belt 130 are arranged in a zigzag shape.

The present invention also discloses a sorting device 200 , as shown in FIG. 11 , FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 , the sorting device 200 includes the single-piece separation system 100 of any of the above embodiments, and the specific structure of the single-piece separation system 100 It is not repeated here.

Specifically, the sorting device 200 further includes an infeed conveyor belt 210 and an outfeed conveyor belt 220. The discharge end of the infeed conveyor belt 210 is connected to the infeed end of the first conveyor belt 110 for batch inputting the packages 300; The material conveyor 220 is used to output the packages 300 arranged by the single-piece separation system 100 to the subsequent system.

In one embodiment, the infeed conveyor belt 210 and the outfeed conveyor belt 220 are arranged in the same direction, and the outfeed end of the infeed conveyor belt 210 is located above the infeed end of the outfeed conveyor belt 220, and a single piece is preset therebetween. The installation space of the separation system 100. The first conveyor belt 110 , the second conveyor belt 120 and the third conveyor belt 130 are connected at the first position, and are arranged horizontally in order from high to low, and the feeding end of the first conveyor belt 110 is located below the discharging end of the feeding conveyor belt 210 , The discharge end of the third conveyor belt 130 is located above the infeed end of the discharge conveyor belt 220 . It should be noted that, the discharging conveyor belt 220 may be directly connected to the discharging end of the third conveyor belt 130, or may be connected through the fourth conveyor belt 140 in the following embodiments.

In one embodiment, the above-mentioned sorting device 200 further includes a fourth conveyor belt 140 . As shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 , the fourth conveyor belt 140 and the outfeed conveyor belt 220 are arranged horizontally, and the fourth conveyor belt 140 , the infeed conveyor belt 210 and the outfeed conveyor belt 220 are located on the same vertical plane.

The feeding end of the fourth conveyor belt 140 is located at the discharging end of the third conveyor belt 130 , the discharging end of the fourth conveyor belt 140 is connected with the feeding end of the discharging conveyor belt 220 , and the third conveyor belt 130 is perpendicular to the third conveyor belt 130 . The fourth conveyor belt 140 , the second conveyor belt 120 is perpendicular to the third conveyor belt 130 , the first conveyor belt 110 is perpendicular to the second conveyor belt 120 and the feed conveyor belt 210 . It should be noted that, in practical applications, the sorting device 200 can flexibly select the number and arrangement of conveyor belts according to actual needs, and each conveyor belt is independently driven by a corresponding driver.

In practical applications, the above-mentioned sorting device 200 can be composed of multiple conveyor belts with height differences. Each conveyor belt is driven by a servo motor and can be started and stopped quickly. Each conveyor belt has a sensor array to detect the position and spacing of the packages 300. The above-mentioned conveyor belt is preferably a belt conveyor.

The randomly stacked packages 300 travel on each conveyor belt in the direction from the first conveyor belt 110 to the second conveyor belt 120, that is, from the upper level to the lower level conveyor belt, when the package 300 traveling ahead When the first conveyor belt 110 falls into the second conveyor belt 120, under the action of gravity, the front package 300 has a sudden acceleration process, and a certain gap will be generated between the front and rear packages 300; the sensor of the second conveyor belt 120 When the array detects that the front package 300 has fallen, it immediately informs the first conveyor belt 110, and the servo motor of the first conveyor belt 110 immediately decelerates or even pauses, decelerating the following package 300 and further expanding the gap between the front and rear packages 300 to the designed width.

When the packages 300 are stacked up and down, during the process of dropping the packages 300 from the first conveyor belt 110 to the second conveyor belt 120, the stacked packages 300 will be spread out and spread out; In the case of being together, a preset angle of 90 degrees is set between the travel directions of the first conveyor belt 110 and the second conveyor belt 120, and the conveyor belt preferably has more than 3 sections, so that the package 300 has more than 2 drops. process, then after the first drop, the packages 300 next to each other on the left and right become the packages 300 next to each other when traveling along the traveling direction of the second conveyor belt, which can be spaced apart during the second drop .

As shown in FIG. 10 , when the multi-section conveyor belts are arranged in a line or in a line, the packages 300 that are stacked up and down and that are next to each other can be spaced apart. As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 9 , when the multi-section conveyor belts are arranged in a left turn, a right turn, or a zigzag arrangement, the packages 300 stacked up and down, next to each other, and right and left can be spaced apart. In addition, when more sections of the conveyor belt are arranged in a left-handed or right-handed roundabout, the effect of single-piece separation that meets the requirements can be achieved, and at the same time, the vertical space is well utilized, and the occupied space is small.

To sum up, when the randomly stacked packages 300 travel along the single-piece separation system consisting of multiple sections of conveyor belts with different heights, whether they are stacked up and down, close to each other, or close to each other, the packages 300 are dropped, In the process of acceleration and deceleration of the conveyor belt, it will be spaced into a single package 300. By controlling the acceleration and deceleration process of each section of the conveyor belt, the spacing between the packages 300 can reach the designed width, and they are arranged in a row and conveyed to the subsequent equipment.

The present invention also discloses a sorting method, as shown in FIG. 14 to FIG. 16 , which is applicable to any of the sorting equipment 200 described above. As shown in Figure 14, the sorting method includes the following steps:

Step 1: use the first sensor 151 to detect the original distance between the first package and the second package conveyed adjacently before and after the surface of the first conveyor belt 110;

Step 2: the first sensor 151 or the second sensor 152 detects the time period during which the first package has reached the second conveyor belt 120 while the second package has not reached the second conveyor belt 120;

Step 3: Adjust the transmission speed of the first conveyor belt 110 and the second conveyor belt 120 by comparing the difference between the original spacing and the preset spacing, until the spacing between the first package and the second package is equal to the preset spacing , or the first package and the second package leave the first conveyor belt 110;

Step 4: The first conveyor belt 110 readjusts the transmission speed according to the package spacing after the second package, and the second conveyor belt 120 readjusts the transmission speed according to the package spacing before the second package, and circulates in sequence.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 , step 3 includes three judgment logics:

If the original distance is greater than the preset distance, the first conveyor belt 110 is accelerated, and/or the second conveyor belt 120 is decelerated or paused;

If the original distance is smaller than the preset distance, the first conveyor belt 110 is decelerated or paused, and/or the second conveyor belt 120 is accelerated;

If the original distance is equal to the preset distance, the first conveyor belt 110 maintains the original transmission speed, and/or the second conveyor belt 120 determines its speed according to the distance between the two packages and the previous package.

In other words, the first conveyor belt 110 and the second conveyor belt 120 at least include the following three situations according to the size of the distance between two adjacent packages and the change of the transportation position:

Scenario 1: The first conveyor belt 110 detects the distance between two adjacent packages, if it is greater than the preset distance: when the front package falls to the second conveyor belt 120 and the following package does not fall to the second conveyor belt 120 , the second conveyor belt 120 decelerates, the transmission speed of the first conveyor belt 110 remains unchanged, or the transmission speed of the second conveyor belt 120 remains unchanged, and the first conveyor belt 110 accelerates; until the distance between two adjacent packages is reduced to a preset value gap, or the following package falls to the second conveyor belt 120 .

Case 2: The first conveyor belt 110 detects the distance between two adjacent packages, if it is less than the preset distance: when the front package falls to the second conveyor belt 120 and the following package does not fall to the second conveyor belt 120 , the second conveyor belt 120 accelerates or maintains a constant speed, and the first conveyor belt 110 decelerates or pauses;

Case 3: The first conveyor belt 110 detects the distance between two adjacent packages, if it is equal to the preset distance: the distance between the two adjacent packages meets the requirements, and the two adjacent packages fall from the first conveyor belt 110 to the second. When there are two conveyor belts 120, the running speed of the first conveyor belt 110 does not change, and the second conveyor belt 120 determines its speed according to the distance between the two packages and the previous package.

In practical applications, according to the above sorting method, each transmission has three states of stop, forward and fast forward. The basic control logic is as follows:

Stop state: the initial or default state, or enter the stop state in order to widen the gap between the two packages: that is, when the package traveling in front falls from the first conveyor belt 110 to the second conveyor belt 120, the following If the package reaches the end of the first conveyor belt 110 in a too short time, the first conveyor belt 110 enters a stop state until a predetermined distance is drawn between the front and rear packages.

Forward state: when there is a package on the first conveyor belt 110 and the conditions for entering the stop state or the fast forward state are not met, the first conveyor belt 110 is in the forward state.

Fast-forward state: When the distance between the front and rear packages is too large, when the front package falls from the first conveyor belt 110 to the second conveyor belt 120, the first conveyor belt 110 enters the fast-forward state. In the fast-forward state, the conveyor belt The speed is higher than the forward state until the distance between the front and rear packages reaches a predetermined value or the rear packages also fall into the second conveyor belt 120 .

In one embodiment, the sorting device 200 includes a first conveyor belt 110, a second conveyor belt 120, and a third conveyor belt 130 that are connected end to end in sequence. The control logic state diagram of each conveyor belt is shown in FIG. 15. The logical judgment conditions for control switching between the three states of , forward and fast forward are all functions of the outputs of the sensor arrays on the first conveyor belt 110 , the second conveyor belt 120 and the third conveyor belt 130 and the delay time. According to the result of logical operation on the output of the sensor array, the speed of each conveyor belt is independently controlled, and there is no fixed speed or dependency between the speeds of the front and rear conveyor belts.

It should be noted that the above sensor array may be an infrared through-beam sensor, a retro-reflective infrared sensor, or a scattering infrared sensor, which is used to detect the position of the package on the conveyor belt. When the camera or depth camera is used instead of the above sensor array to detect the position of the package, the package position detected by the camera or the depth camera can be converted into the logic high and low level output by the aforementioned sensor, so that the same logic is used to control the conveyor belt to stop, Switch between the three states of forward and fast forward.

It should be noted that the above embodiments can be freely combined as required. The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, some improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as It is the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (13)

1. A single-piece separation system, characterized in that, comprising: a first conveyor belt having a first conveying direction; a second conveyor belt having a second conveying direction; wherein, The feeding end of the second conveyor belt is located below the discharging end of the first conveyor belt, and the feeding end of the second conveyor belt and the discharging end of the first conveyor belt have a preset drop. The second conveying direction and the first conveying direction have a first preset angle, which is used to adjust the packages conveyed side by side to be conveyed back and forth. 2. A single-piece separation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, comprising: a first driver for driving the first conveyor belt to a first conveying speed; a second drive for driving the second conveyor belt to a second conveying speed; a plurality of sensors for detecting the original distance and position information of the first package and the second package conveyed adjacently before and after the surface of the first conveyor belt; a controller, connected in communication with the sensor, the first driver and the second driver, and adjusts the first conveying speed and/or the second conveying speed according to the original distance and position information, so that the first conveying speed is The distance between the package and the second package is equal to the preset distance. 3. A single-piece separation system according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the sensors comprise: a plurality of first sensors installed on the first conveyor belt; A plurality of second sensors are installed on the second conveyor belt; wherein, When the first sensor detects that the original distance is smaller than a preset distance, and then the first sensor and/or the second sensor detects that the first package is dropped to the second conveyor belt, the the first conveying speed is reduced to be less than the second conveying speed, or the second conveying speed is increased to be greater than the first conveying speed, Until the original distance increases to a preset distance; or until the second package falls to the second conveyor belt, readjust the said second package according to the distance and position information between the second package and its subsequent adjacent packages the first conveying speed and/or the second conveying speed; When the first sensor detects that the original distance is greater than a preset distance, and then the first sensor and/or the second sensor detects that the first package is dropped to the second conveyor belt, the The first conveying speed is increased to be greater than the second conveying speed, or the second conveying speed is reduced to be less than the first conveying speed, Until the original distance is reduced to a preset distance; or until the second package is dropped to the second conveyor belt, readjust the distance and position information between the second package and its subsequent adjacent packages. the first conveying speed and/or the second conveying speed. 4. A single-piece separation system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first sensor is installed on at least one side of the first conveyor belt and the discharge end of the first conveyor belt along the first conveying direction; And/or the second sensor is installed on at least one side of the second conveyor belt and the discharge end of the second conveyor belt along the second conveying direction. 5. A single-piece separation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, comprising: a third conveyor belt having a third conveying direction; wherein, The infeed end of the third conveyor belt is located below the discharge end of the second conveyor belt, and the infeed end of the third conveyor belt and the discharge end of the second conveyor belt have a preset drop. to separate overlapping packages; The third conveying direction and the second conveying direction have a second preset angle, which is used to adjust the packages conveyed side by side to be conveyed back and forth. 6. A single-piece separation system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first preset angle and the second preset angle are located on the same side of the first conveyor belt, so that the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt and the third conveyor belt Set in a circle shape. 7. A single-piece separation system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first preset angle and the second preset angle are located on opposite sides of the first conveyor belt, so that the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt and the third conveyor belt Set in a zigzag shape. 8. A single-piece separation system according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The first preset included angle is a right angle, and the discharge end of the first conveyor belt overlaps the upper edge of the side baffle of the feed end of the second conveyor belt. 9. A sorting device, comprising a single-piece separation system according to any one of claims 1-7, further comprising: a feeding conveyor belt, the discharge end of the feeding conveyor belt is connected with the feeding end of the first conveyor belt, and is used for batch input of packages; The output conveyor belt is used to output the packages arranged by the single-piece separation system to the subsequent system. 10. A sorting device according to claim 9, characterized in that, The feeding conveyor belt and the discharging conveyor belt are arranged in the same direction, and the discharging end of the feeding conveyor belt is located above the feeding end of the discharging conveyor belt, and the single piece is preset therebetween. The installation space of the separation system; The first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt and the third conveyor belt are connected at the first position, and are arranged horizontally in order from high to low, and the feeding end of the first conveyor belt is located below the discharging end of the feeding conveyor belt , the discharge end of the third conveyor belt is located above the feed end of the discharge conveyor belt. 11. A sorting device according to claim 10, further comprising: The fourth conveyor belt is arranged horizontally with the discharge conveyor belt, and the fourth conveyor belt, the feed conveyor belt and the discharge conveyor belt are located on the same vertical plane; wherein, The feeding end of the fourth conveyor belt is located at the discharging end of the third conveyor belt, the discharging end of the fourth conveyor belt is connected with the feeding end of the discharging conveyor belt, and the third conveyor belt The fourth conveyor belt is perpendicular to the second conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt is perpendicular to the third conveyor belt, and the first conveyor belt is perpendicular to the second conveyor belt and the feed conveyor belt. 12. A sorting method, applicable to the sorting device according to any one of claims 9-11, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: Step 1: use the first sensor to detect the original distance between the first package and the second package conveyed adjacently before and after the surface of the first conveyor belt; Step 2: detecting the time period during which the first package has reached the second conveyor belt, but the second package has not reached the second conveyor belt by the first sensor and/or the second sensor; Step 3: Adjust the transmission speed of the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt by comparing the difference between the original spacing and the preset spacing, until the spacing between the first package and the second package is equal to the preset spacing, or the first package and the second package exit the first conveyor; Step 4: The first conveyor belt readjusts the transmission speed according to the package spacing after the second package, and the second conveyor belt readjusts the transmission speed according to the package spacing before the second package. 13. A sorting method according to claim 12, wherein the step 3 comprises: If the original distance is greater than the preset distance, the first conveyor belt is accelerated, and/or the second conveyor belt is decelerated or paused; If the original distance is smaller than the preset distance, the first conveyor belt is decelerated or paused, and/or the second conveyor belt is accelerated; If the original distance is equal to the preset distance, the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt maintain the original transmission speed.

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