Robot system and method for removing sticks and/or foreign elements from conveyor belts

• US 8,418,830 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2006
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MI Robotic Solutions
• Original Assignee: MI Robotic Solutions
• Inventors: Salamanca, Hugo
• Primary Examiner(s): Singh, Kavel
• Application Number:
  US11/598,119
• Publication Number:
  US 20070169230A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,346 Days
• Field of Search: 198/395, 198/750.8, 414/729, 414/730, 414/732, 414/222.01
• US Class Current: 198/358
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0093 co-operating with conveyor means

Abstract

At present, the removal the sticks from the mineral feeding lines, as a result of the mineral extraction, is carried out manually or using mechanical equipment, which means a loss of efficiency of the grinding and crushing system, high exposure to the risks associated to the removal of foreign elements of grinding material, this method does not guarantee problems from this cause in the subsequent stages in the grinding and crushing process. Due to the above, a robot system and method have been developed for the removal of sticks from the conveyor belts.

The robotic system is composed mainly of an anthropomorphous robotic manipulator of at least 5 degrees of freedom, and a gripping mechanism which is supported by a vision system allowing, in a sequential and programmed way, to remove the sticks. In this regard, most of the problems associated to the safety of the personnel and the productivity of the current manual and/or mechanical process are eliminated.

Claims

1. A method for removing sticks and other items from a moving conveyor belt using a robot, comprising the steps of:

said robot visually detecting and distinguishing sticks and other items for selection for removal from other elements on a moving conveyor belt, including identifying the shape, the position, and the orientation of the items for selection,

selecting a group of sticks or other items for removal,

gripping the selected group of sticks or other items for removal,

raising the selected group of sticks or other items for removal off of the moving conveyor belt,

manipulating the selected group of sticks or other items for removal away from said moving conveyor belt, and

releasing the selected group of sticks or other items for removal into a container;

wherein said robot includes an anthropomorphous robotic arm of at least 5 degrees of freedom provided with a gripping mechanism and fingers;

a vision or detection system with at least one camera for capturing images of items moving on a conveyor belt;

a logic processing unit for processing images captured by said camera to recognize objects on said conveyor belt and their orientation, shape, and position and thereby determining which objects to select for removal;

a control, communication and programming unit for remote communications and control of the robotic arm; and

an electric supply system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said robot has the capability to move and manipulate objects in different paths.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said robotic arm communicates directly or through a programmed logic controller interface with the control, communication and programming unit.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said robot is capable of obtaining and interpreting information from installed analogue or digital sensors.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said robot has the capability to generate analogue or digital signals to control analogue or digital inputs devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said gripping mechanism includes at least 2 fingers.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein productivity and efficiency in the removal process increases.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said robot may operate automatically or semi-automatically, and also is scalable.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said method is integrated in different stages of an extracting process including at least one of crushing, grinding, smelting, and roasting different metals of interest including at least one of copper, iron, nickel, silver, gold, tin, and lead.