NOUFERROUS METALLURGICAL EQUIPMENT

This paper addresses the issues of large occupation and the susceptibility of the lead cathode to deformation during secondary transportation in the large-plate lead cathode manufacturing machine currently used in industrial production, which often lead to short circuits between the anode and cathode after the cathodes are placed in the cells. A novel layout and rapid transportation method for the lead cathode manufacturing unit is proposed. After the lead sheets are cut and conductive rods are inserted in a horizontal state, a flipping device is used to rotate the formed lead cathodes from a horizontal position to a vertical position. An industrial robot then transports the vertically oriented cathodes to an embossing device. Once embossing is completed, the cathodes are inserted between the anodes of an automatic anode-cathode spacing machine. By optimizing the relative positions of the flipping device, embossing device, and automatic anode-cathode spacing machine within the robotic workspace, the transportation distance is minimized. Additionally, the robots motion trajectory is carefully planned to reduce vertical movements relative to the sheet plane, thereby mitigating collision-induced deformation during secondary transportation. Industrial production practices demonstrate that this compact unit layout reduces the required occupation, saves investment costs, and minimizes deformation of lead cathodes during secondary transportation.