Manufacturing system

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. CN202211458483.0 filed on Nov. 17, 2022, in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the whole disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to a manufacturing system for producing a flexible ribbon product.

[0003] In the prior art, in order to improve the manufacturing efficiency of connector, it is sometimes necessary to first produce a flexible ribbon product (see FIG. 3), and then cut or segment the flexible ribbon product into multiple connectors. During the process of producing flexible ribbon product, a manual method is usually used to monitor its quality. When the flexible ribbon product is found to be unqualified, it is necessary to shut down the system, and manually adjust the working parameters of the production equipment. This greatly reduces the production efficiency of the flexible ribbon product, and thus, of the connectors generated therefrom.

[0004] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a manufacturing system includes equipment adapted to produce a flexible ribbon product, a control device adapted to control the working parameters of the production equipment, and a signal adjustment device adapted to adjust control signals of the control device online and in real time to adjust the working parameters of the production equipment online and in real time. The signal adjustment device includes a visual device capturing online and real-time images of the flexible ribbon product produced by the production equipment, and a computer. The computer includes a calculation module adapted to calculate an offset distance between an insulation film on the produced flexible ribbon product and a forming area online and in real-time based on the captured images. The computer further includes an adjustment module adapted to adjust the control signals of the control device online and in real-time based on the calculated offset distance until the offset distance is equal to zero.

[0014] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0015] In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

[0016] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a manufacturing system includes production equipment for producing a flexible ribbon product, a control device for controlling working parameters of the production equipment, and a signal adjustment device for adjusting the control signals of the control device online and in real time to adjust the working parameters of the production equipment online and in real time. The signal adjustment device includes a visual device for capturing online and real-time images of the flexible ribbon product produced by the production equipment, and a computer. The computer has a calculation module which calculates an offset distance between an insulation film on the produced flexible ribbon product and a forming area online and in real-time based on the captured images. The computer further includes an adjustment module which adjusts the control signals of the control device online and in real-time based on the calculated offset distance until the offset distance is equal to zero.

[0017] FIG. 1 is an illustrative view of a production equipment for a flexible ribbon product 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an illustrative view of a row of wires 1 for manufacturing a flexible ribbon product 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an illustrative view of a qualified flexible ribbon product 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an illustrative view of a manufacturing system for a flexible ribbon product 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] As shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 6, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the manufacturing system includes a production equipment 10, a control device 5, and a signal adjustment device 3, 4. The production equipment 10 is used to produce a flexible ribbon product 100. The control device 5 is used to control the working parameters of production equipment 10. The signal adjustment device 3, 4 is used to adjust the control signals of control device 5 online and in real time to adjust the working parameters of production equipment 10 online and in real time.

[0019] FIG. 4 is an illustrative view of a substandard flexible ribbon product 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an illustrative view of another unqualified flexible ribbon product 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows the adjustment process of the wire conveying speed V1 and the tape conveying speed V2 of the production equipment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 shows the adjustment process of the wire conveying speed V1 and the tape conveying speed V2 of the production equipment according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] As shown in FIGS. 1-8, in the illustrated embodiments, signal adjustment device 3, 4 includes a visual device 3 and a computer 4. The visual device 3 is used to capture images of the flexible ribbon product 100 produced by production equipment 10 in online and real-time. The computer 4 includes a calculation module and an adjustment module. The calculation module calculates the offset distance d between the insulation film 2a and the forming area 1a on the produced flexible ribbon product 100 online and in real-time based on the captured images. The adjustment module adjusts the control signals of control device 5 online and in real-time based on the calculated offset distance d until the offset distance d is equal to zero.

[0021] As shown in FIGS. 1-5, the flexible ribbon product 100 includes a row of wires 1 and multiple insulation films 2a. A row of wires 1 has multiple forming areas 1a evenly spaced along the length direction of wire 1, and each wire 1 has a forming part 1b located in the forming area 1a. Multiple insulation films 2a are pasted on the upper and lower sides of multiple forming areas 1a of the row of wires 1, so that the forming part 1b is wrapped in the insulation film 2a.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 3, in the illustrated embodiment, the flexible ribbon product 100 can be cut into multiple connectors along the cutting line F in the figure. This can improve the manufacturing efficiency of connectors. The insulation film 2a forms the insulation of the connector, the forming part 1b of wire 1 forms the terminal body of the connector, and the exposed part of wire 1 from the insulation film 2a forms the connecting end of the connector.

[0023] Referring again generally to FIGS. 1-8, in the illustrated embodiments, the production equipment 10 includes a wire conveying device 11, 12, a tape conveying device 21 and 22, and a rolling device 30. The wire conveying device 11, 12 is used to transport a row of wires 1 forward along a predetermined conveying direction. The tape conveying device 21, 22 is used for conveying the tape 2 with insulation film 2a. The rolling device 30 is used to roll the insulation film 2a of the tape 2 onto the forming area 1a of the row of wires 1. The control device 5 is used to control the wire conveying speed V1 of wire conveying device 11, 12 and the tape conveying speed V2 of tape conveying device 21, 22.

[0024] The insulation film 2a and the forming area 1a have opposite front and rear edges in the conveying direction of a row of wires 1, respectively. The offset distance d is the distance between the rear edge of the insulation film 2a and the rear edge of the corresponding forming area 1a. When the offset distance d is not equal to zero, the signal adjustment device 3, 4 adjusts the wire conveying speed V1 and the tape conveying speed V2 by adjusting the control signals of control device 5 until the offset distance d is equal to zero and the wire conveying speed V1 is equal to the tape conveying speed V2.

[0025] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, in the illustrated embodiments, when the rear edge of the insulation film 2a is located in front of the rear edge of the corresponding forming area 1a, the signal adjustment device 3, 4 reduces the tape conveying speed V2 and increases the wire conveying speed V1 by adjusting the control signals of the control device 5 until the offset distance d is equal to zero and the wire conveying speed V1 is equal to the tape conveying speed V2. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, when the rear edge of the insulation film 2a is located behind the rear edge of the corresponding forming area 1a, the signal adjustment device 3, 4 reduces the wire conveying speed V1 and increases the tape conveying speed V2 by adjusting the control signals of the control device 5 until the offset distance d is equal to zero and the wire conveying speed V1 is equal to the tape conveying speed V2.

[0026] In the illustrated embodiments, the wire conveying device 11, 12 includes a wire supply reel 11, a product recycling reel 12, and a first driver or actuator. The wire supply reel 11 is used to supply a row of wire 1 to the rolling device 30. The product recycling reel 12 is used to recycle the produced flexible ribbon product 100. The first drive is used to drive the rotation of the product recycling reel 12 to coil the flexible ribbon product 100 onto the product recycling reel 12. The control device 5 adjusts the wire conveying speed V1 by controlling the working parameters of the first driver. The first driver, for example, can be a servo motor, and the control device 5 can control the working parameters of the servo motor.

[0027] The tape 2 includes a carrier tape 2b and a row of insulation films 2a spaced along the length direction of carrier tape 2b. The tape conveying device 21, 22 includes a tape supply reel 21, a carrier tape recycling reel 22, and a second driver. The tape supply reel 21 is used to supply the tape 2 with insulation film 2a to the rolling device 30. The carrier tape recycling reel 22 is used to recycle the carrier tape 2b of the used tape 2. The second driver is used to drive the carrier tape recycling reel 22 to rotate, in order to coil the carrier tape 2b onto the carrier tape recycling reel 22. The control device 5 adjusts the tape conveying speed V2 by controlling the working parameters of the second driver. The second driver, for example, can be a servo motor, and the control device 5 can control the working parameters of the servo motor.

[0028] The tape conveying device 21, 22 further includes a first guide roller 23 and a second guide roller 24. The first guide roller 23 is arranged between the tape supply reel 21 and the rolling device 30 to guide the tape 2 from the tape supply reel 21 to the rolling device 30. The second guide roller 24 is arranged between the carrier tape recycling reel 22 and the rolling device 30 to guide the carrier tape 2b of the tape 2 from the rolling device 30 to the carrier tape recycling reel 22. The rolling device 30 includes multiple pairs of pressure rollers 31, which are spaced in the conveying direction of a row of wires 1. The row of wires 1 and the tape 2 pass through between each pair of rollers 31 to press the insulation film 2a of the tape 2 onto the row of wires 1 through multiple pairs of rollers 31.

[0029] The visual device 3 includes multiple cameras which are respectively located above and below the produced flexible ribbon product 100. The visual device 3 is adapted to simultaneously capturing images of the flexible ribbon product 100 from above and below. The control device 5 may include a PLC controller. The manufacturing system may further include a display 6, which is connected to the computer 4 in communication for online and real-time display of images of the flexible ribbon product 100 captured by the visual device 3.

[0030] In addition, those areas in which it is believed that those of ordinary skill in the art are familiar, have not been described herein in order not to unnecessarily obscure the invention described. Accordingly, it has to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrative embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims.

[0031] It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.

[0032] Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

[0033] As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of the elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “comprising” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.