Gripping device for segment erector

A gripping device for a segment erector, comprising a drive assembly, a cylinder barrel assembly, a piston, a guide assembly and a centering assembly, wherein the piston reciprocates within the cylinder barrel assembly under an action of the drive assembly and the guide assembly;

• the centering assembly and the cylinder barrel assembly are respectively mounted on an upper end surface and a lower end surface of a gripping and lifting plate in the segment erector;
• the centering assembly is arranged to face a segment to be gripped;
• the piston comprises a piston body and a piston rod located within the piston body;
• the piston rod comprises a transmission rod, a cross-slider coupling, and a gripping head that are connected in sequence, wherein the gripping head partially protrudes from the centering assembly;
• power output by the drive assembly is transferred to the gripping head via the transmission rod and the cross-slider coupling in sequence to enable the gripping head to screw into or out of a connection hole in the segment to be gripped, enabling gripping or releasing of the segment to be gripped;
• the centering assembly is configured to assist in a centering operation between the gripping head and the connection hole in the segment to be gripped by a way of machine vision;
• the centering assembly comprises a centering main structure, cameras, and a drive component;
• the centering main structure comprises an end cover, an assembly frame and a bottom cover arranged in sequence from top to bottom, as well as a plurality of claw plates and claw arms, wherein the end cover is fixedly connected to both the gripping and lifting plate and the bottom cover;
• each of the claw plates is connected to the centering main structure via a matching one of the claw arms;
• the cameras are mounted on the assembly frame and arranged to face the claw plates;
• in a process of the gripping head approaching the connection hole of the segment to be gripped, a relative positional relationship between the gripping head and the connection hole of the segment to be gripped is identified based on images acquired by the cameras, thereby determining operating parameters of the drive component;
• the drive component drives the assembly frame based on the operating parameters to cause the assembly frame to rotate relative to the end cover and the bottom cover around an axial direction of the centering main structure;
• and the claw arms drive the corresponding claw plates to move closer to each other, thereby forming a space among the claw plates to allow the gripping head to pass through, restrict a traveling direction of the gripping head and keep the gripping head aligned with the connection hole of the segment to be gripped.