CN-117230445-B - Intelligent powder feeder and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides an intelligent powder feeder and a control method thereof, and relates to the technical field of intelligent manufacturing, wherein the intelligent powder feeder comprises a powder storage container, an electric control gate, a powder feeding pipeline, a powder flow sensor based on matrix optical fibers and a controller, wherein the electric control gate is positioned at a powder outlet of the powder storage container, a first opening end of the powder feeding pipeline corresponds to the powder outlet of the powder storage container through the electric control gate, a second opening of the powder feeding pipeline is arranged at a preset position, the powder feeding pipeline comprises a light transmitting pipe section, a light emitting end and a light receiving end of the powder flow sensor are oppositely arranged at two sides of the light transmitting pipe section, a signal output end of the powder flow sensor is in signal connection with the controller, the controller is in signal connection with an electric control part of the electric control gate, and the controller is used for controlling the opening of the electric control gate based on an output signal of the powder flow sensor.

Inventors

• Yang Xinliu
• Li Biaoxin

Assignees

• 南昌宏通金属表面技术有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20231109

Claims (9)

1. 1. An intelligent powder feeder comprises a powder storage container, an electric control gate, a powder feeding pipeline, a powder flow sensor based on matrix optical fibers and a controller; The electric control gate is positioned at the powder outlet of the powder storage container; The first opening end of the powder feeding pipeline corresponds to the powder outlet of the powder storage container through the electric control gate, and the second opening of the powder feeding pipeline is arranged at a preset position; The powder flow sensor comprises a light emitting end and a light receiving end, the light emitting end and the light receiving end are oppositely arranged at two sides of the light transmitting pipe section, and a signal output end of the powder flow sensor is in signal connection with the controller; The controller is in signal connection with the electric control part of the electric control gate, and is used for controlling the opening of the electric control gate based on the output signal of the powder flow sensor; The powder flow sensor comprises a light emitting end, a light receiving end, a light transmitting pipe section, a light receiving end, a powder flow sensor, a light receiving end, a light transmitting pipe section and a powder flow sensor, wherein the light emitting end and the light receiving end of the powder flow sensor are respectively provided with more than two rows of optical fiber ports, the light emitting end and the light receiving end of the powder sensor are respectively provided with two rows of optical fiber ports, the arrangement modes of the optical fiber ports of the light emitting end and the light receiving end are symmetrical relative to the over-center plane of the light transmitting pipe section, and the arrangement directions of the two rows of optical fiber ports of the light emitting end and the light receiving end are inclined relative to the length direction of the light transmitting pipe section, so that the detection range of the powder flow sensor covers the diameter or the width range of the light transmitting pipe section; The cross section of the light transmission pipe section is elliptical, and the light emitting end and the light receiving end are oppositely arranged at two sides of the light transmission pipe section along the long axis of the cross section of the light transmission pipe section, so that the part with larger curvature on the cross section of the light transmission pipe section is opposite to the light emitting end or the light receiving end; A light scattering element is arranged between the light transmitting tube section and the light emitting end, and a light condensing element is arranged between the light transmitting tube section and the light receiving end.
2. 2. The intelligent powder feeder of claim 1, further comprising a vibrator, wherein the vibrator is in transmission connection with the powder storage container, and the vibrator is in signal connection with the controller so as to work under the control of the controller; The powder storage container is an eccentric funnel.
3. 3. The intelligent powder feeder of claim 1, wherein the light transmissive tube section is adjacent to the first open end or the light transmissive tube section is spaced no more than 1cm from the first open end.
4. 4. The intelligent powder feeder of claim 1, wherein the cross section of the light-transmitting tube section is arc-shaped at the positions corresponding to the light emitting end and the light receiving end of the powder flow sensor.
5. 5. The intelligent powder feeder of claim 1, wherein the number of the light emitting ends and the light receiving ends is 2, respectively, wherein the first light emitting ends and the first light receiving ends are oppositely arranged at two sides of the transparent pipe section along a first through center line of the cross section of the transparent pipe section, and the second light emitting ends and the second light receiving ends are oppositely arranged at two sides of the transparent pipe section along a second through center line of the cross section of the transparent pipe section; The first and second centerlines are orthogonal.
6. 6. The control method of the intelligent powder feeder according to claim 2, executed by the controller, comprising: acquiring an output signal of the powder flow sensor; Comparing the output signal with a first threshold; and controlling the opening of the electric control gate to be reduced when the comparison result reflects that the actual powder amount is larger than the set powder amount, and controlling the opening of the electric control gate to be increased when the comparison result reflects that the actual powder amount is smaller than the set powder amount.
7. 7. The control method according to claim 6, further comprising: controlling the opening of the electric control gate to enable the powder quantity in the powder feeding pipeline to reach the set powder quantity measured by the calibration equipment; Acquiring output signals of the powder flow sensor at more than two time points during the period that the powder amount in the powder feeding pipeline reaches the set powder amount measured by the calibration equipment; the first threshold is determined based on the output signals of the two or more time points.
8. 8. The control method according to claim 7, further comprising: After the opening of the electric control gate is increased, controlling the vibrator to start working when the comparison result still reflects that the actual powder quantity is smaller than the set powder quantity; when the vibrator works, and the result of the comparison still reflects that the actual powder amount is smaller than the set powder amount, a prompt is sent out, so that a worker can check whether the powder storage container lacks powder or whether the powder outlet is blocked.
9. 9. The control method according to claim 8, wherein the output signal of the powder flow sensor reflects an average value of intensities of optical signals received by the rows of optical fiber ports on the light receiving end.

Description

Intelligent powder feeder and control method thereof Technical Field The specification relates to the technical field of intelligent manufacturing, in particular to an intelligent powder feeder and a control method thereof. Background The powder feeder is widely applied to the technical fields of laser cladding (LASER CLADDING), laser material adding, 3D printing, spraying and the like. The continuity and uniformity of the powder feeding process directly affects the stability of the powder processing process. Therefore, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an intelligent powder feeder and a control method to ensure that the powder output is continuously uniform. Disclosure of Invention The embodiment of the specification provides an intelligent powder feeder, which comprises a powder storage container, an electric control gate, a powder feeding pipeline, a powder flow sensor based on matrix optical fibers and a controller, wherein the electric control gate is positioned at a powder outlet of the powder storage container, a first opening end of the powder feeding pipeline corresponds to the powder outlet of the powder storage container through the electric control gate, a second opening of the powder feeding pipeline is arranged at a preset position, the powder feeding pipeline comprises a light transmitting pipe section, a light emitting end and a light receiving end of the powder flow sensor are oppositely arranged at two sides of the light transmitting pipe section, a signal output end of the powder flow sensor is in signal connection with the controller, the controller is in signal connection with an electric control part of the electric control gate and is used for controlling the opening degree of the electric control gate based on an output signal of the powder flow sensor, more than two rows of ports are respectively arranged at a light emitting end and a light receiving end of the powder feeding pipeline, the two rows of ports are arranged at the light emitting end and the light receiving end of the powder flow sensor are opposite to each other along the light transmitting end and the light transmitting end of the light transmitting pipe section, and the light receiving end of the light transmitting end of the powder flow sensor is arranged along the light transmitting pipe section is opposite to the light transmitting end or the light transmitting end of the light transmitting pipe section. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the intelligent powder feeder further comprises a vibrator, wherein the vibrator is in transmission connection with the powder storage container, and the vibrator is in signal connection with the controller so as to work under the control of the controller; The powder storage container is an eccentric funnel. According to some embodiments of the disclosure, the transparent tube section is adjacent to the first open end or the transparent tube section is spaced from the first open end by no more than 1cm. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the cross section of the transparent tube section is arc-shaped corresponding to the light emitting end and the light receiving end of the powder flow sensor. According to the intelligent powder feeder of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a light diffusing element is disposed between the light transmitting tube section and the light emitting end, and a light condensing element is disposed between the light transmitting tube section and the light receiving end. According to the intelligent powder feeder of some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of the light emitting ends and the number of the light receiving ends are 2, wherein the first light emitting ends and the first light receiving ends are oppositely arranged at two sides of the transparent pipe section along a first passing center line of the cross section of the transparent pipe section, the second light emitting ends and the second light receiving ends are oppositely arranged at two sides of the transparent pipe section along a second passing center line of the cross section of the transparent pipe section, and the first passing center line and the second passing center line are orthogonal. One or more embodiments of the present disclosure provide a control method of the foregoing intelligent powder feeder, which is executed by the controller, and includes acquiring an output signal of the powder flow sensor, comparing the output signal with a first threshold value, controlling the opening of the electric control shutter to decrease when the comparison result reflects that the actual powder amount is greater than the set powder amount, and controlling the opening of the electric control shutter to increase when the comparison result reflects that the actual powder amount is less than the set powder amount. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control method further includes contr