System and method for changing liners, the configuration of which allows the automated removal and insertion of liners of a mill used for ore grinding

A robotic manipulator system for use in a system for changing liners in an automated manner in a mill used for ore grinding, characterised in that it comprises at least one pivoting beam (17) comprising a pivoting attachment at one end (24) and comprising at a second end (30) a mounting surface (34) for fixing at least one robotic manipulator (35) formed by a base (36) which is fixed to a mounting surface of a beam of the structure of the system, wherein there is mounted on said base (36) a rotating column (37), an oscillating arm (38), an arm (39), and a wrist (40) on which there is mounted at least one liner manipulation tool (5), the robotic manipulator comprises an electrical installation system (41) and a weight compensating element (42), wherein the robotic manipulator system furthermore has incorporated therein a liner position detection means configured by at least one artificial vision system (6) which is based on artificial vision techniques by means of using laser triangulation cameras (42) through which the mantle of the inner surface of the mill is scanned to determine the position in which the liner must be inserted, said artificial vision system being capable of delivering the distance and angle of the succession of holes, so that the robotic manipulator (35) makes the decision for insertion and moving closer.

A liner manipulation tool for use in a system for changing liners in an automated manner in a mill used for ore grinding, characterised in that it comprises a gripping structure (43) including a support plate (44) having attachment means for being able to fix said plate to at least one manipulator, wherein said gripping structure further comprises a base plate (45) comprising guides (46) for the gripping means (47) which are arranged in the gripping structure (43) for the fixing and actuation thereof so as to grip the liners to be changed.

A method for changing liners of a mill, characterised in that it comprises the steps of putting the systems in place, with the telescopic beam being introduced in the mill, and therefore the robotic manipulators as well, inserting such that it is located thereon, once the beam is inside, the liners to be changed are introduced, which liners are moved by the movable carriage to the proximity of the robotic manipulator, the position in which the liner is to be installed is detected by means of vision, and the robotic manipulator automatically grabs and moves the liner to the assembly position, which is performed with the equations describing the geometry of the mill, position and liner type identification is performed by means of an artificial viewing system to automatically determine where the liner should be held for its insertion, scanning the mantle of the inner surface of the mill by means of using cameras capable of acquiring spatial information of the surroundings to identify the location where the liner must be inserted, the robotic manipulator inserting the liner in the determined location based on the trajectories that it generates upon receiving the spatial coordinates.