JP7741701B2 - Plastic turtle-shell net manufacturing equipment using AI technology - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a device for manufacturing tortoiseshell nets by twisting two plastic wires alternately. In particular, it relates to a plastic tortoiseshell net manufacturing device that uses AI (artificial intelligence) technology to automatically correct abnormal twists that occur when there is a tension imbalance between the two left and right plastic wires, thereby producing high-quality plastic tortoiseshell nets.

Tortoiseshell nets are known, which are made by twisting together metal wires or synthetic resin wires. Tortoiseshell nets are made by twisting two adjacent sides together, and are extremely strong and durable, making them widely used for fences, aquaculture nets, rockfall prevention nets, and other applications.
Of these, tortoiseshell netting, which is made by twisting together synthetic resin wires, is more durable than tortoiseshell wire netting, which uses metal wire, in that it does not rust or corrode, and products have also been developed that are superior in terms of strength and mesh regularity.
One such example is a plastic tortoiseshell netting manufacturing device developed by the applicant of this application, described in Patent No. 4926126. In this manufacturing device, after two plastic wires are twisted together, the twisted wires are opened to the left and right to form a tortoiseshell net again, and the opened wires are twisted with adjacent separate wires, after which the original two wires are pulled from the left and right toward the center to twist them together again, and this process is repeated alternately to weave the tortoiseshell netting.

Patent No. 4926126

After twisting two plastic wires together, the two twisted wires are opened to both sides to form a tortoiseshell shape again. When the twisted part is pulled to the left and right, if there is an imbalance in the tension between the left and right wires, the wire with weaker tension will be pulled to the wire with stronger tension and will end up wrapped around it, causing an abnormal twist.
Plastic tortoiseshell nets (see Figure 11) that contain many abnormally twisted sections lose their durability and appearance, reducing their value as a product and leading to their disposal as defective products. To avoid this, skilled technicians monitor the nets and, upon detecting abnormally twisted sections, immediately correct the tension of the wire rod that is causing the problem, resulting in high-quality plastic tortoiseshell nets.
However, because the difference between normal twisted portions (see FIG. 12(A)) and abnormal twisted portions (see FIGS. 12(B) and 12(C)) is slight and multiple twisted portions must be checked instantaneously, the detection of abnormal twisted portions currently relies on skilled technicians.
Moreover, even experienced technicians sometimes overlook the occurrence of abnormal twisted portions, which is one of the reasons why it is difficult to eradicate the rate of defective plastic tortoiseshell nets.

This invention was devised in light of the above-mentioned problems and to solve them. Its purpose is to provide a plastic tortoiseshell net manufacturing device that uses AI (artificial intelligence) technology to automatically correct abnormal twists that occur when there is a tension imbalance between the left and right plastic wires, thereby enabling the production of high-quality plastic tortoiseshell nets without relying on skilled technicians.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mesh twisting mechanism in which a number of pairs of twisting half-gears, each having a through-hole for a plastic wire, are arranged side by side in the mesh width direction, and two plastic wires inserted into the through-holes of a pair of matching twisting half-gears are twisted several times by the rotation of the pair of matching twisting half-gears, and then one or both of the plastic wires are separated and moved in the mesh width direction to mate with another adjacent twisting half-gear, and the newly matched pair of twisting half-gears rotates to twist the two plastic wires inserted into the through-holes of the half-gears several times, and then return to their original positions to mate with the previous twisting half-gear and rotate, repeating this process; and a mesh twist prevention mechanism is disposed behind the mesh twisting mechanism, each having a twist prevention half-gear that corresponds one-to-one with each of the twisting half-gears of the mesh twisting mechanism, and each of the twist prevention half-gears of the mesh twist prevention mechanism has a through-hole for a plastic wire, and The mesh twist prevention mechanism includes a guide gear that rotates and moves in the mesh width direction in synchronization with the rotation and separation of the twisting half gears of the mesh twisting mechanism and rotates in synchronization with the rotation of each pair of half gears of the mesh twisting mechanism and the mesh twist prevention mechanism, a front supply bobbin that supplies plastic wire to one of the twisting half gears of the mesh twisting mechanism through one of the twist prevention half gears of the mesh twist prevention mechanism that is a matching pair and is provided inside the rotating guide gear, a rear supply bobbin that supplies plastic wire that is hooked in the outer peripheral groove of the guide gear and rotates to the other twisting half gear of the mesh twisting mechanism through the other of the twist prevention half gears of the mesh twist prevention mechanism that is a matching pair and is provided behind the guide gear, and a guide device that is provided between the front supply bobbin and the rear supply bobbin and that transfers the plastic wire that is supplied from each rear supply bobbin to the corresponding guide gear. The through holes of the corresponding half-shaped gears of the front and rear mesh twisting mechanisms and mesh twist prevention mechanisms are connected by hollow heat conduction insertion tubes through which the plastic wires pass, and a heating device is provided in the area where the heat conduction insertion tubes are installed between the front and rear mesh twisting mechanisms and mesh twist prevention mechanisms, which uniformly heats the internal plastic wires through the heat conduction insertion tubes, and a comb-shaped forming holding plate is provided in front of the mesh twisting mechanism, which has at least recesses at locations corresponding to each twisted portion in the mesh width direction of the hexagonal net sent out from the mesh twisting mechanism, and which moves a little forward at the same speed as the sending out speed of the hexagonal net from the mesh twisting mechanism and then instantly returns to its original position, repeating this operation, and an AI device is provided to correct the abnormal twisted portion of each twisted portion of the plastic wires sent out forward from each through hole of the mesh twisting mechanism to a normal twist, and the AI device also receives the abnormal twisted portion from each through hole of the mesh twisting mechanism. The system is equipped with a plurality of twisted section photographing devices that photograph each twisted section of the plastic wire that is sent out, an image recognition processing unit that focuses on the central position relationship of the bulges that are a geometric feature of the twisted section based on image data of each twisted section of the plastic wire photographed by the twisted section photographing devices, and determines whether the state of each twisted section is normal or abnormal by machine learning the feature that the central position relationship of the bulges is straight in a normal twisted section but not in an abnormal twisted section, and a tension adjustment unit that adjusts the tension of the tension adjustment wires attached linearly in the length direction to both ends of the plastic hexagonal netting, and when the AI device detects an abnormal twisted section of the plastic wire, the tension adjustment unit adjusts the tension of the tension adjustment wires attached linearly in the length direction to both ends of the plastic hexagonal netting, automatically correcting the abnormal twisted section of the plastic wire to a normal twisted section with no imbalance in the tension of the wires on the left and right.

According to the plastic tortoiseshell net manufacturing device using AI technology of this invention, which is equipped with means for solving the above problems, each twisted section created by twisting left and right plastic wires together is monitored with multiple cameras, and abnormal twisted sections that occur when there is an imbalance in the tension of the left and right plastic wires are detected using AI technology.By adjusting the tension of the tension-adjusting wires at both ends of the plastic tortoiseshell net, the abnormal twisted sections can be automatically corrected to normal twisted sections where there is no imbalance in the tension of the left and right wires.
This allows high-quality plastic hexagonal netting to be manufactured without relying on skilled technicians.
Furthermore, this plastic tortoiseshell net manufacturing device using AI technology can halve the frequency of defective plastic tortoiseshell nets compared to conventional manufacturing devices that rely on the visual inspection of skilled technicians.
For example, the rate of defective products used to be around 5 to 8%, but with the use of AI technology, the rate of defective products has dropped to around 3%.
Furthermore, monitoring using AI technology can eliminate the need for constant monitoring by skilled engineers, contributing to the omission of such monitoring. Furthermore, when an abnormality occurs, AI technology can notify the skilled engineers of the abnormality, allowing them to deal with the problem.

This is an overall schematic diagram of a plastic hexagonal net manufacturing device using AI technology, showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a mesh twisting mechanism and a mesh twist prevention mechanism during rotation, illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view showing the mesh twisting mechanism and mesh twist prevention mechanism when the half gears are separated and moved in the mesh width direction, illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a partial perspective view of an untwisting mechanism showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a mold holding plate showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1A to 1C are partial cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a forming holding plate showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic diagram of an AI device showing an embodiment of the present invention; (A) is a partially enlarged plan view of a straight-type normal twist portion of a hexagonal net detected by an AI device showing an embodiment of this invention, (B) is a partially enlarged plan view of a V-shaped abnormal twist portion of a hexagonal net detected by an AI device, and (C) is a partially enlarged plan view of an inverted V-shaped abnormal twist portion of a hexagonal net detected by an AI device. (A) is a partial plan view of a tortoiseshell net with tension adjustment wires attached to both ends, showing an embodiment of the present invention, and (B) is a partial plan view of the tortoiseshell net with the tension adjustment wires removed. FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of a tortoiseshell net made of normal twisted portions. FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of a tortoiseshell net made of abnormally twisted portions. (A) is a partially enlarged plan view of a normal twisted portion of the hexagonal net, and (B) and (C) are partially enlarged plan views of an abnormally twisted portion of the hexagonal net.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings.
In the figure, the plastic tortoiseshell net manufacturing device 1 comprises a net twisting mechanism 2 that twists plastic wires a together to form a tortoiseshell net b, a net twist prevention mechanism 3 located behind it, and an untwisting mechanism 4 having a guide gear 41, a front supply bobbin 42 that supplies plastic wires a, a rear supply bobbin 43, and a guide device 44 located between them.In addition to these, the device is also equipped with a heating device 5 located between the front and rear net twisting mechanisms 2 and the net twist prevention mechanism 3, which uniformly heats the plastic wires a inside through a heat conduction insertion tube 51, a forming holding plate 6 located in front of the net twisting mechanism 2 to maintain the shape of the tortoiseshell net b, and an AI device 8 that automatically corrects the abnormal twist portion f2 of each twisted portion f of the plastic wires a sent out from the net twisting mechanism ₂ to a normal twist portion _f1 .

The mesh twisting mechanism 2 weaves plastic wire a into a tortoiseshell mesh b by repeatedly rotating a pair of twisting half-gears 21, 22 in unison and then separating and moving in the mesh width direction. The tortoiseshell mesh b is continuously produced forward by the mesh twisting mechanism 2. The mesh twisting mechanism 2 has racks 23 arranged above and below it that rotate the twisting half-gears 21, 22 through meshing.

The mesh twisting mechanism 2 has through holes 21a, 22a for plastic wires a. For example, a large number of pairs of upper and lower twisting half-gears 21, 22 are arranged side by side in the mesh width direction. Two plastic wires a inserted through the through holes 21a, 22a of the pair of matching twisting half-gears 21, 22 are twisted several times by the rotation of the pair of matching upper and lower twisting half-gears 21, 22. One or both of the gears then separate and move across the mesh width to mate with adjacent twisting half-gears 21, 22, respectively, and the newly matched pair of twisting half-gears 21, 22 rotates to twist the two plastic wires a inserted through the through holes 21a, 22a of the half-gears 21, 22 several times. The newly matched pair of twisting half-gears 21, 22 then returns to their original positions, mate with the previous twisting half-gears 21, 22, and rotates repeatedly, until a tortoiseshell mesh is woven into the mesh b.

In other words, the mesh twisting mechanism 2 is configured with a large number of upper and lower pairs of twisting half-gears 21, 22 arranged side by side in the mesh width direction. Each of the twisting half-gears 21, 22, which are mated together at the top and bottom to form a pair, has a through-hole 21a, 22a formed therein, and a plastic wire a is inserted through each through-hole 21a, 22a. The upper and lower pairs of twisting half-gears 21, 22 are configured to rotate several times after mating at the top and bottom. One or both of the upper and lower twisting half-gears 21 and 22 are configured to separate and move in the mesh width direction to match up with the adjacent twisting half-gears 21, 22 at the top and bottom.

A mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 is located behind the mesh twisting mechanism 2. The mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 has twist prevention half gears 31, 32 that correspond one-to-one to the twisting half gears 21, 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2. The mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 is provided to prevent the tortoiseshell mesh b from being unable to be woven due to the heat transfer pipe 51 installed between the mesh twisting mechanism 2 in front.

Each of the twist prevention half gears 31, 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 has a through hole 31a, 32a for inserting the plastic wire a. Furthermore, each of the twist prevention half gears 31, 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 is designed to rotate and separate in the mesh width direction in synchronization with the rotation and separation in the mesh width direction of the twisting half gears 21, 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2. The mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 has racks 33 arranged above and below it that rotate the twist prevention half gears 31, 32 through meshing.

The mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 has substantially the same structure as the mesh twisting mechanism 2, and operates in the same manner as the mesh twisting mechanism 2. This prevents the heat transfer pipes 51 installed between the twisting half gears 21, 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 and the corresponding twist prevention half gears 31, 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 from coming into contact or twisting with each other due to the rotation of the twisting half gears 21, 22 and the separation movement in the mesh width direction.

In other words, if the heat transfer tubes 51 come into contact with each other or become twisted, it can interfere with the rotation of the twisting half gears 21, 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 and the separation movement in the mesh width direction, causing malfunctions. Furthermore, if the heat transfer tubes 51 break or bend, the inserted plastic wire rods a can break or become twisted, preventing the tortoiseshell mesh b from being woven. To prevent this, the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 is located behind the mesh twisting mechanism 2.

The untwisting mechanism 4 untwists the plastic wire a continuously fed toward the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3, which is twisted by the mesh twisting mechanism 2 and thus develops a twist tendency. By untwisting the plastic wire a continuously fed toward the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3, this mechanism prevents the plastic wire a twisted by the mesh twisting mechanism 2 from developing a twist tendency, preventing the tortoiseshell mesh b from becoming unsmoothly shaped and from losing its strength.

In addition, the untwisting mechanism 4 prevents the plastic wire rods a continuously fed toward the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 from entangling with each other due to the rotation of the twist prevention half gears 31, 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 and the movement of the wire rods separating in the mesh width direction, thereby enabling the plastic wire rods a to be fed smoothly toward the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3.

The untwisting mechanism 4 is composed of a guide gear 41, a front supply bobbin 42 for supplying plastic wire rod a, a rear supply bobbin 43 for supplying plastic wire rod a, a guide device 44, etc., and is arranged rearward behind the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3, with the front supply bobbin 42, guide device 44, and rear supply bobbin 43 located within the guide gear 41 in this order.

The guide gears 41 rotate in synchronization with the rotation of each pair of half-gears of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 and mesh twist prevention mechanism 3. There are provided a number of guide gears corresponding to the front supply bobbins 42. They are also provided behind the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3. A gear is formed on the outer periphery of each guide gear 41, and a rotating gear 41a is provided that meshes with this gear to rotate the guide gear 41. An outer peripheral groove 41b is formed on part of the outer periphery of the guide gear 41 to hook and rotate the plastic wire a supplied from the rear supply bobbin 43.

The front supply bobbin 42 supplies plastic wire a to one of the twisting half gears 21 or 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 through one of the matching anti-twist half gears 31 or 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3. Plastic wire a is wound around the front supply bobbin 42. The front supply bobbin 42 is located inside the rotating guide gear 41. The front supply bobbin 42 is located so as to be substantially non-rotating relative to the rotating guide gear 41.

The rear supply bobbin 43 supplies the plastic wire a, which is hooked and rotated in the outer peripheral groove 41b of the guide gear 41, to the other twisting half gear 21 or 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 through the other of the twist prevention half gears 31 or 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 that form a matching pair. The rear supply bobbin 43 is wound with the plastic wire a. It is located behind the guide gear 41 and guide device 44.

The guide device 44 is located between the front supply bobbin 42 and the rear supply bobbin 43 and is a device for transferring the plastic wire a supplied from each rear supply bobbin 43 to the corresponding guide gear 41. The guide device 44 is provided with a locking piece 44a that hooks the plastic wire a. This locking piece 44a moves up and down and left and right in conjunction with the rotation and separation movement in the mesh width direction of the half gears 21, 22 and 31, 32 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 and mesh twist prevention mechanism 3, ensuring smooth supply of the plastic wire a from the rear supply bobbin 43.

The through holes of the corresponding half-shaped gears 21 and 31, and 22 and 32 of the front and rear mesh twisting mechanisms 2 and mesh twist prevention mechanisms 3 are connected by hollow heat conduction pipes 51 through which plastic wire a passes. The heat conduction pipes 51 are installed side by side between the front and rear mesh twisting mechanisms 2 and mesh twist prevention mechanisms 3, the number of which corresponds to the number of half-shaped gears.

In other words, one end of a certain heat transfer tube 51 is connected to the through hole 21a of the twisting half gear 21 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2, and the other end of the heat transfer tube 51 is connected to the through hole 31a of the twist prevention half gear 31 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3, which rotates in synchronization with the twisting half gear 21 and moves apart in the mesh width direction. Similarly, one end of another heat transfer tube 51 is connected to the through hole 22a of the twisting half gear 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2, and the other end of the heat transfer tube 51 is connected to the through hole 32a of the twist prevention half gear 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3, which rotates in synchronization with the twisting half gear 22 and moves apart in the mesh width direction.

Each heat transfer tube 51 is hollow, with a single plastic wire a inserted through the hollow interior. By using this heat transfer tube 51, the plastic wire a can be easily inserted from each of the anti-twist half gears 31, 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 to the corresponding twisting half gears 21, 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 without error.

Furthermore, each heat conduction tube 51 is composed of a thermally conductive cylindrical tube made of, for example, metal. When each heat conduction tube 51 is heated by the heating device 5, the heat is transferred to the entire heat conduction tube 51, which has thermal conductivity. As each inserted plastic wire a moves inside toward the forward mesh twisting mechanism 2, it is uniformly heated and softened by the heat conduction tube 51, to which heat is transferred throughout. The softened plastic wires a are twisted smoothly without any twisting resistance during twisting, and are woven into the tortoiseshell mesh b.

As mentioned above, the heating device 5 is a device that uniformly heats the plastic wire a that passes through it via the heat conduction tubes 51. It is installed in an area where a large number of heat conduction tubes 51 are arranged side by side between the front and rear mesh twisting mechanisms 2 and mesh twist prevention mechanisms 3. The heating device 5 is arranged transversely to the large number of heat conduction tubes 51 that are arranged side by side. The heating device 5 is, for example, an electric heater. The space between the mesh twisting mechanisms 2 and mesh twist prevention mechanisms 3, where the heating device 5 and each heat conduction tube 51 are arranged, is, for example, an enclosed space to prevent heat from leaking to the outside.

In front of the net twisting mechanism 2, two forming and holding plates 6 are provided, one at the front and one at the back, to hold the shape of the tortoiseshell net b that has been woven into the tortoiseshell net b by the net twisting mechanism 2 and sent out. The two forming and holding plates 6 are integrally connected by a connecting plate 62 and perform identical operations. Each forming and holding plate 6 has at least a recess 61 at a location corresponding to each twisted section f in the width direction of the tortoiseshell net b sent out from the net twisting mechanism 2, and is designed to move slightly forward at the same speed as the tortoiseshell net b is sent out from the net twisting mechanism 2, then instantly return to its original position, repeating this operation. Furthermore, both forming and holding plates 6 connected by the connecting plate 62 are designed to be driven in conjunction with the net twisting mechanism 2 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

Each recess 61 is rounded, for example, to prevent damage to the twisted portions f when pressed from above. A large number of recesses 61 are formed at equal intervals on the underside of the horizontally elongated forming holder plate 6, which is formed in a comb-tooth shape when viewed from the front. Each twisted portion f in the mesh width direction of the tortoiseshell net b fed from the mesh twisting mechanism 2 engages with the large number of recesses 61 formed on the underside of the horizontally elongated forming holder plate 6. In this case, the twisted portions f of the tortoiseshell net b engage with every other recess 61 on the forming holder plate 6. In other words, the recesses 61 alternate between areas where the twisted portions f of the tortoiseshell net b engage and empty areas where they do not engage.

The recesses 61 formed on the undersides of the two forming and holding discs 6 arranged at the front and rear are formed in the same locations on both the front and rear. Furthermore, on the two front and rear forming and holding discs 6, the locations of the twisted portions f on both sides of the hexagon of the tortoiseshell net b are located in the center of the hexagon on the front and rear sides, so the locations at which the twisted portions f of the tortoiseshell net b engage are different on the front and rear recesses 61. In other words, when the twisted portions f of the tortoiseshell net b engage with the recess 61 on the front forming and holding disc 6, the recess 61 on the rear forming and holding disc 6, which is located in the same position, is empty.

Of these, the rear forming holding plate 6, located closest to the net twisting mechanism 2, presses down from above with every other recess 61 on the twisted portions f that form the left and right sides of the hexagon of the tortoiseshell net b immediately after it is fed out from the net twisting mechanism 2, engaging them. While engaged, it then moves forward at the same speed as the tortoiseshell net b's feed speed a distance equal to the total length of the twisted portions f that form the left and right sides of the hexagon of the tortoiseshell net b and the length of the sine (the side opposite the hypotenuse of sine) from the end of twisted portion f to the start of twisted portion f of the next tortoiseshell net b, after which the forming holding plate 6 instantly returns to its original position and repeats this operation.

The two plastic wires a that make up the twisted section f, which forms the left and right sides of the hexagonal tortoiseshell net b, are sent out from the twisting half gears 21, 22 of the net twisting mechanism 2. As the upper and lower twisting half gears 21, 22 separate and move left and right, the ends of twisted section f separate left and right, and the two plastic wires a are twisted together as they rotate and mate with the adjacent twisting half gears 21, 22 above and below. In this way, the tortoiseshell net b is woven.

At this time, when the two plastic wires a separate into left and right at the end of the twisted section f, even if they are pulled strongly to the left or right, the end of each twisted section f is engaged with the recess 61 formed on the underside of the forming holding plate 6, so they are held in a central position without being pulled in either direction, maintaining the tortoiseshell hexagonal shape.

In particular, immediately after being twisted together, the plastic wires a are softened by heating. If the softening state of the left and right plastic wires a differs slightly, they may be pulled to either the left or right, causing the tortoiseshell shape to collapse. However, thanks to the action of the forming retaining plate 6, the end of each twisted section f is engaged and held in the recess 61, so they are not pulled to either the left or right, and the tortoiseshell shape can be maintained.

The other forming and holding plate 6 located at the front presses down from above on the twisted portions f located at the center of both sides of the hexagon of the tortoiseshell net b that the rear forming and holding plate 6 presses down and engages, but because it is integrally connected to the rear forming and holding plate 6 by a connecting plate 62, it operates in exactly the same way. Immediately after being woven into a tortoiseshell shape, the tortoiseshell net b has softened due to the heating just before, and there is a possibility that its shape may deform, but the front and rear forming and holding plates 6 prevent the tortoiseshell shape from deforming and maintain that shape.

Directly behind the forming holding plate 6 is a cylindrical feed roller 7 that sends the hexagonal netting (b) forward immediately after it has been woven. Pins 71 protrude from the circumferential side of this feed roller 7 at regular intervals in the width and circumferential directions. As the pins 71 rotate forward, they catch and pull the hexagonal vertices of the hexagonal netting (b), moving the hexagonal netting (b) forward and allowing it to be wound up by a winding device (not shown) installed in front.

The AI device 8 is a device that uses AI (artificial intelligence) technology to automatically correct the state of abnormal twisted portion f2 of each twisted portion f of the plastic wire a that is sent forward from each through hole 21a, 22a of the net twisting mechanism ₂ to a normal twisted portion _f1 , thereby producing a high-quality plastic tortoiseshell net b.

The AI device 8 includes a plurality of twisted section cameras 81 that photograph each twisted section f of the plastic wire a sent out from each of the through holes 21a, 22a of the mesh twisting mechanism 2, an image recognition processing unit 82 that determines whether the state of each twisted section f is normal or abnormal based on the image data of each twisted section f of the plastic wire a photographed by the twisted section cameras 81, and a tension adjustment unit 83 that adjusts the tension of tension adjustment wires 83a attached linearly along the length of the plastic tortoiseshell mesh b at both ends.

When the image recognition processing unit 82 of the AI device 8 determines that the twisted portion f of the plastic wire a is in an abnormal twisted portion _f2 state, the AI device 8 adjusts the tension of the tension adjustment wires 83a attached linearly in the length direction at both ends of the plastic tortoiseshell netting b via the left and right tension adjustment units 83, automatically correcting the abnormal twisted portion _f2 to a normal twisted portion _f1 in which there is no imbalance in the tension of the left and right wires a.

The twisted section camera 81, which constitutes part of the AI device 8, is a device, such as a camera, that photographs each twisted section f of the plastic wire a fed out from each of the through holes 21a, 22a of the mesh twisting mechanism 2. Multiple twisted section camera devices 81 are installed at intervals across the width of the plastic tortoiseshell net b fed forward from the mesh twisting mechanism 2, and are devices that photograph all twisted sections f formed across the width of the plastic tortoiseshell net b.

For this reason, the multiple twisted portion camera devices 81 are mounted at appropriate intervals across the width of the net twisting mechanism 2 so that they can photograph all of the twisted portions f of the plastic tortoiseshell net b sent out forward from the net twisting mechanism 2. Each twisted portion camera device 81 is mounted diagonally above and in front of the net twisting mechanism 2, facing diagonally downward toward each of the twisted portions f of the plastic tortoiseshell net b sent out forward. Each twisted portion camera device 81 can simultaneously photograph multiple adjacent twisted portions f, ensuring that all of the twisted portions f are photographed without omission.

The image recognition processing unit 82, which constitutes part of the AI device 8, is built into a personal computer or the like and determines whether the condition of each twisted section f of the plastic wire a is normal or abnormal based on image data of the twisted section f photographed by the twisted section photographing device 81. This image recognition processing unit 82 uses unique image processing to remove noise and extract the characteristics of the twisted section f of the plastic tortoiseshell netting b.

In other words, the image recognition processing unit 82 focuses on the three bulges w, which are a geometric feature of the twisted portion f of the plastic tortoiseshell netting b. Specifically, the system extracts the positional relationship of the three bulges w present in the bulges w as a feature quantity and performs anomaly detection.

The twisted portion f of the plastic tortoiseshell net b is created by twisting two plastic wires a together three times, so there are three bulges w in one twisted portion f (see Figures 8 (A) (B) (C)). The relative positions of the centers of these bulges w are extracted as a feature.

This is because in the case of a normal twisted portion _f1 , the relative positions of the centers of the three bulges w are in a straight line (see Figure 8(A)). However, in the case of an abnormal twisted portion _f2 , the relative positions of the centers of the three bulges w are not in a straight line. _It is also known that abnormal twisted portion f2 can be classified into two patterns: a dogleg-shaped abnormal twisted portion _f2-1 (see Figure 8(B)) and an inverted dogleg-shaped abnormal twisted portion _f2-2 (see Figure 8(C)). Anomaly detection is automated by using machine learning to learn these characteristics.

The tension adjusting units 83 are located on both sides of the device and adjust the tension of the tension adjusting wires 83a attached linearly along the length of the plastic tortoiseshell net b. The left and right tension adjusting units 83 adjust the tension of the left and right tension adjusting wires 83a, respectively, to automatically correct the abnormal twisted portion _f2 of the twisted portion f of the plastic wire a to a normal twisted portion _f1 , where there is no imbalance in the tension of the left and right wires a.

Each tension adjustment unit 83 is provided with a winding drum 83b, and one end of the tension adjustment wire 83a is wound around each winding drum 83b. When the tension adjustment wire 83a is unwound forward from the winding drum 83b during the production of the plastic tortoiseshell net b, the winding drum 83b is braked appropriately to adjust its rotational force, thereby adjusting the tension of each tension adjustment wire 83a.

The tension adjusting wires 83a attached linearly to both ends of the plastic tortoiseshell net b in the lengthwise direction are inferior in strength and durability to the plastic wires a constituting the plastic tortoiseshell net b, and have a small cross section, and are made of, for example, nylon. After the plastic tortoiseshell net b is manufactured, the tension adjusting wires 83a are cut and removed.

Next, the operation based on the configuration of the above-described embodiment of the invention will be described below.
The plastic wire a supplied from each front supply bobbin 42 of the untwisting mechanism 4 arranged at the rear is inserted into each through-hole 31a of the twist prevention half gear 31 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 arranged at the front thereof, and then passed through the inside of the heat conduction insertion tube 51, so that its tip end comes out from the through-hole 21a of the twisting half gear 21 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 arranged at the front thereof.

Similarly, the plastic wire a supplied from each rear supply bobbin 43 of the rear untwisting mechanism 4 is passed through the corresponding front guide device 44, hooked into the outer peripheral groove 41b of the guide gear 41 located on the outer periphery of each corresponding front supply bobbin 42 in front of the guide device 44, and inserted into each through hole 32a of the anti-twist half gear 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 in front of the guide gear 41, and then passed through the inside of the heat transfer insertion tube 51, with its tip end emerging from the through hole 22a of the twist half gear 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 located in front of it.

After the plastic wire a is set in the plastic tortoiseshell net b manufacturing device 1 in the above manner, the electric heater of the heating device 5 is turned on to heat each heat conduction tube 51 through which the plastic wire a is inserted. When the heat conduction tube 51 is heated, the heat is transferred to the entire heat conduction tube 51, and the plastic wire a inside is uniformly heated and softened. After softening the plastic wire a in this way and reducing the twisting resistance, the net twisting mechanism 2 and the associated net twist prevention mechanism 3 and untwisting mechanism 4's guide gear 41 and guide device 44 are operated.

When the mesh twisting mechanism 2 is operating, two plastic wires a inserted through the through holes 21a, 22a of a pair of matching twisting half-gears 21, 22 are twisted several times by the rotation of the pair of matching twisting half-gears 21, 22. One or both of the wires then separate and move across the mesh width to mate with another adjacent twisting half-gear 21, 22. The newly matched pair of twisting half-gears 21, 22 then twists the two plastic wires a inserted through the through holes 21a, 22a several times by the rotation of the newly matched pair of twisting half-gears 21, 22. The wires then return to their original positions, mate with the new twisting half-gears 21, 22, and rotate, repeating this process. In this way, a tortoiseshell mesh b is woven and sequentially fed forward from the mesh twisting mechanism 2.

The heat transfer tube 51 behind the mesh twisting mechanism 2 and the anti-twist half gears 31, 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 rotate and separate in the mesh width direction in synchronization with the rotation and separation of the corresponding twisting half gears 21, 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2.

Similarly, the untwisting mechanism 4 behind the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 untwists the plastic wire material a continuously fed from the front supply bobbin 42 and rear supply bobbin 43 toward the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 in synchronization with the rotation and widthwise separation of the twisting half-gears 21, 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2, thereby preventing the plastic wire material a being twisted by the mesh twisting mechanism 2 from developing a twisting tendency. Furthermore, the rotation and widthwise separation of the twist prevention half-gears 31, 32 of the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 prevents the plastic wire materials a continuously fed toward the mesh twist prevention mechanism 3 from becoming entangled.

When the terminal ends of the twisted portions f of the plastic wires a are fed out through the through holes 21a, 22a of the twisting half gears 21, 22 of the mesh twisting mechanism 2, the rear forming and holding plate 6 descends from above, pressing and engaging the terminal ends of the twisted portions f into the recesses 61 formed on its underside (see Figure 6(A)). As a result, the terminal ends of each twisted portion f of the two softened plastic wires a immediately after being fed out of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 are engaged and held in the recesses 61 of the rear forming and holding plate 6. Immediately afterwards, the two plastic wires a are pulled left and right and separated, but because the terminal ends of each twisted portion f are held in the recesses 61 of the forming and holding plate 6, they do not shift left and right and are able to maintain their tortoiseshell shape.

When the recessed portion 61 of the rear forming and holding plate 6 closest to the mesh twisting mechanism 2 presses down and engages the end of each twisted portion f of the two plastic wires a, the recessed portion 61 of the front forming and holding plate 6 simultaneously descends from above to press down and engage the end of each twisted portion f that has already been sent out earlier.

After each recess 61 of the front and rear forming holder plates 6 presses and engages the end of each twisted section f of the respective plastic wire a, they move forward at the same speed as the tortoiseshell net b is fed out of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 a distance equal to the sum of the length of the twisted sections f, which form the left and right sides of the hexagon of the tortoiseshell net b, and the length of the sine (the side opposite the hypotenuse of sine) from the end of twisted section f to the start of twisted section f of the next tortoiseshell net b (see Figures 6(B) and (C)). Then, they instantly move upward and return to their original rear position, and at the same time, they descend again from above to press and engage the end of each twisted section f of the plastic wire a immediately after it was fed out of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 (see Figure 6(A)). The front and rear forming holder plates 6 repeat this operation.

Immediately after being woven into a tortoiseshell shape, the tortoiseshell netting (b) is softened by the heating just beforehand, and there is a possibility that the shape may be distorted. However, due to the above-described function of the front and rear forming holding plates (6), each twisted section (f) is held in place and does not shift left or right, preventing the tortoiseshell shape from deforming and maintaining its shape.

After twisting two plastic wires a together, they are opened to form a tortoiseshell shape again. When the twisted portion f is pulled to the left and right, if there is an imbalance in the tension between the left and right wires a, the wire a with weaker tension will be pulled to the wire a with stronger tension and will become wrapped around it, causing an abnormal twisted portion _f2 .

In order to detect this abnormal twisted portion _f2 , all of the twisted portions f of the plastic wire a sent out from each of the through holes 21a, 22a of the mesh twisting mechanism 2 are photographed by a plurality of twisted portion photographing devices 81 constituting the AI device 8. Image data of each twisted portion f of the plastic wire a photographed by the twisted portion photographing devices 81 is sent to an image recognition processing unit 82 constituting the AI device 8. The image recognition processing unit 82 judges whether the state of each twisted portion f is normal or abnormal based on the image data of each twisted portion f.

The image recognition processing unit 82 examines the positional relationship of three bulges w, which are geometric characteristics of the twisted portion f of the plastic tortoiseshell netting b. In the case of a normal twisted portion _f1 , the relative positions of the centers of the three bulges w are in a straight line. In contrast, in the case of an abnormal twisted portion _f2 , the relative positions of the centers of the three bulges w are not in a straight line. Furthermore, the abnormal twisted portion _f2 is classified into two patterns: a dogleg-shaped abnormal twisted portion _f2-1 and an inverted dogleg-shaped abnormal twisted portion _f2-2 . These characteristics are used to examine the twisted portion f of the plastic tortoiseshell netting b.

When the AI device 8 detects the abnormal twisted portion _f2 , the left and right tension adjusting units 83 adjust the tension of the tension adjusting wires 83a attached linearly in the length direction at both ends of the plastic tortoiseshell netting b, automatically correcting the abnormal twisted portion _f2 of the twisted portion f of the plastic wire a to a normal twisted portion _f1 where there is no imbalance in the tension of the left and right wires a.

Furthermore, when an abnormally twisted portion _f2 is detected, the AI device 8 will notify nearby skilled technicians by sounding an alarm or by contacting the skilled technician in charge, thereby enabling a system for rapid backup by skilled technicians.

The tortoiseshell net b is woven by the net twisting mechanism 2 and automatically corrected by the AI device 8 to a normal twisted section _f1 with no imbalance in the tension of the plastic wires a on the left and right sides. The pin 71 rotates toward the front of the delivery roller 7 installed just behind the forming holding plate 6, catches the vertices of the hexagons of the tortoiseshell net, and pulls it, moving it forward, and it is taken up by a winding device (not shown) installed in front.

In addition, the tension-adjusted wires 83a at both ends, which have corrected the abnormal twisted portion _f2 of the twisted portion f of the plastic wire a to a normal twisted portion _f1 in which there is no imbalance in the tension of the left and right plastic wires a, are then cut and removed.

It should be noted that this invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can of course be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plastic tortoiseshell net manufacturing device 2 Net twisting mechanism 21 Twisting half gear 21a Through hole 22 Twisting half gear 22a Through hole 23 Rack 3 Net twist prevention mechanism 31 Twist prevention half gear 31a Through hole 32 Twist prevention half gear 32a Through hole 33 Rack 4 Untwisting mechanism 41 Guide gear 41a Rotating gear 41b Outer circumferential groove 42 Front supply bobbin 43 Rear supply bobbin 44 Guide device 44a Locking piece 5 Heating device 51 Heat conduction insertion tube 6 Forming holding plate 61 Recess 62 Connecting plate 7 Feed roller 71 Pin 8 AI device 81 Twisted portion photographing device 82 Image recognition processing unit 83 Tension adjustment unit 83a Tension adjusting wire rod 83b Winding drum a Plastic wire rod b Plastic hexagonal net f Twisting section
f ₁ normal twist section
_f2 Abnormal twisted part
f ₂ -1 L-shaped abnormal twist
f ₂ -2 Reverse L-shaped abnormal twisted part w Bulge

Claims (1)

The mesh twisting mechanism includes a number of pairs of twisting half-gears, each having a through-hole for a plastic wire, arranged in parallel in the mesh width direction, and two plastic wires inserted into the through-holes of a pair of matching twisting half-gears are twisted several times by the rotation of the matching pair of twisting half-gears, and then one or both of the plastic wires are separated and moved in the mesh width direction to mate with another adjacent twisting half-gear, and the newly matched pair of twisting half-gears rotates to twist the two plastic wires inserted into the through-holes of the half-gears several times, and then returns to its original position to mate with the previous twisting half-gear and rotate, repeating this process.
a mesh twist prevention mechanism is disposed behind the mesh twisting mechanism, the mesh twist prevention mechanism having twist prevention half gears each corresponding to one of the twisting half gears of the mesh twisting mechanism, each of the twist prevention half gears having a through hole for the plastic wire, and rotating and moving apart in the mesh width direction in synchronization with the rotation and moving apart in the mesh width direction of the twisting half gears of the mesh twisting mechanism;
a front supply bobbin provided on the inside of the rotating guide gear for supplying plastic wire to one of the twisting half-gears of the twisting mechanism through one of the twisting prevention half-gears of the twisting prevention mechanism that matches with the twisting prevention half-gear of the twisting prevention mechanism; a rear supply bobbin provided behind the guide gear for supplying plastic wire that is hooked in the outer peripheral groove of the guide gear and rotates to the other twisting half-gear of the twisting mechanism through the other of the twisting prevention half-gears of the twisting prevention mechanism that matches with the twisting prevention half-gear of the twisting prevention mechanism; and a guide device provided between the front supply bobbin and the rear supply bobbin for transferring the plastic wire supplied from each rear supply bobbin to the corresponding guide gear.
The through holes of the corresponding half-shaped gears of the front and rear mesh twisting mechanisms and mesh twist prevention mechanisms are connected to each other by hollow heat conduction insertion tubes through which plastic wires are inserted, and a heating device is provided in the area where the heat conduction insertion tubes are installed between the front and rear mesh twisting mechanisms and mesh twist prevention mechanisms, which uniformly heats the internal plastic wires through the heat conduction insertion tubes;
A comb-shaped forming and holding plate is provided in front of the net twisting mechanism, the forming and holding plate having at least recesses at positions corresponding to the respective twisted portions in the net width direction of the hexagonal net delivered from the net twisting mechanism, and moving slightly forward at the same speed as the delivery speed of the hexagonal net from the net twisting mechanism and then instantly returning to its original position, repeating this operation;
An AI device is provided to correct abnormal twisted portions of each twisted portion of the plastic wire material fed forward from each through-hole of the mesh twisting mechanism to a normal twisted portion,
The AI device comprises a plurality of twisted section photographing devices for photographing each twisted section of the plastic wire material sent out from each through-hole of the net twisting mechanism, an image recognition processing unit that focuses on the central positional relationship of the bulges, which are shape characteristics of the twisted section, based on image data of each twisted section of the plastic wire material photographed by the twisted section photographing devices, and determines whether the state of each twisted section is normal or abnormal by machine learning the characteristic that the central positional relationship of the bulges is linear in a normal twisted section and not linear in an abnormal twisted section, and a tension adjustment unit that adjusts the tension of tension adjustment wires attached linearly in the length direction to both ends of the plastic tortoiseshell net,
When the AI device detects an abnormal twisted portion of the plastic wire, it automatically corrects the abnormal twisted portion of the plastic wire to a normal twisted portion with no imbalance in the tension of the wire on the left and right sides by adjusting the tension of the tension adjusting wire attached linearly in the length direction at both ends of the plastic hexagonal net through the tension adjusting unit.
A plastic tortoiseshell net manufacturing device that uses AI technology.