CN116216175A

CN116216175A - Accumulation type assembly line

Info

Publication number: CN116216175A
Application number: CN202310155317.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宋育贤; 侯焕昀; 冯鹏飞
Original assignee: Huizhou Luohe Tech Co ltd
Current assignee: Huizhou Luohe Tech Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-02-22
Filing date: 2023-02-22
Publication date: 2023-06-06

Abstract

The invention relates to a stacking assembly line, which comprises a substrate and a transferring assembly, wherein the transferring assembly comprises a driving part, an annular belt, two rotating wheels, at least one material blocking part and at least one material carrying part, the two rotating wheels are respectively arranged on the substrate in a rotating way, the annular belt is sleeved on the two rotating wheels, the driving part is arranged on the substrate, an output shaft of the driving part is connected with one rotating wheel, each material carrying part is arranged on the substrate in a sliding way along the annular belt, each material blocking part is arranged on the substrate, each material blocking part is arranged adjacent to the annular belt, when the material blocking part pushes against the material carrying part, the material carrying part is separated from the annular belt, so that the material carrying part is static relative to the substrate, and when the material blocking part is far away from the material carrying part, the material carrying part is connected with the annular belt, so that the annular belt drives the material carrying part to slide relative to the substrate. Therefore, the movement and stop of the material carrying piece can be controlled as required, the flexibility is better, and the automatic machine has better compatibility to automation equipment of different stations.

Description

Accumulation type assembly line

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of material conveying, in particular to a power and free type assembly line.

Background

The material conveying refers to the position change of the production material in space. In industrial production, the most primitive material transport process is the transfer of product from different production workshops according to the production process flow. In the past, each production station was connected by the transfer chain, and the local technology was accomplished to the product by the workman manual or use to assist the utensil, and each process flow was connected through the transfer chain to accomplish the product production. Nowadays, with the development of automation technology, each process of products is completed through automation equipment, so that a conveying device is also developed into various structures such as chain belts, plate chains and the like by a belt, and therefore, the conveying requirements of different products can be met. Thus, the number of workers can be further reduced, so that the production efficiency and the production quality can be improved.

The existing conveying device mainly has two conditions when conveying materials, the first condition does not need a jig, the materials are randomly and randomly placed on the conveying device to be transferred, positioning is carried out in a photographing identification mode and the like, and then a mechanical arm is driven to grasp; the second is to equidistantly install a jig for fixing materials on the conveying device, and to put the materials in the jig according to the same standard posture for equidistant transfer.

For the second conveying device, the jigs are required to be installed at equal intervals, so that proper quantity is required to be set according to the quantity of product process steps in design, and meanwhile, the distance between production stations is required to be set, so that when the conveying device drives each jig to move, each product can be accurately transferred to the corresponding station by the jig. Therefore, when the number of process steps changes in the process update iteration of the product, the original production equipment can not meet the production, and new-generation automatic production equipment needs to be designed, so that the repeatability of equipment parts is too high, and the production cost is increased. Therefore, in view of the poor flexibility of the existing conveying device, sufficient compatibility is lacking, the jigs on the conveying device cannot be mounted or dismounted according to actual demands, and the distance between the jigs is fixed.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to overcome the defects in the prior art, and provides an accumulation assembly line with jigs capable of being assembled or disassembled according to actual requirements and with intervals between jigs capable of being changed according to pattern requirements.

The aim of the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

an accumulation assembly line, comprising:

a substrate; a kind of electronic device with high-pressure air-conditioning system

The conveying assembly comprises a driving piece, an annular belt, two rotating wheels, at least one material blocking piece and at least one material carrying piece, wherein the two rotating wheels are respectively arranged on the base plate in a rotating mode, the annular belt is sleeved on the two rotating wheels, the driving piece is arranged on the base plate, an output shaft of the driving piece is connected with one rotating wheel, each material carrying piece is arranged on the base plate in a sliding mode along the annular belt, each material blocking piece is arranged on the base plate, and each material blocking piece is adjacent to the annular belt;

when the material blocking piece pushes against the material carrying piece, the material carrying piece is separated from the annular belt, so that the material carrying piece is static relative to the base plate, and when the material blocking piece is far away from the material carrying piece, the material carrying piece is connected with the annular belt, so that the annular belt drives the material carrying piece to slide relative to the base plate.

In one embodiment, the driving member is a motor.

In one embodiment, the annular band is circular in cross-section.

In one embodiment, the material blocking member comprises two material blocking cylinders, the two material blocking cylinders are arranged on the substrate, the two material blocking cylinders are respectively positioned on two sides of the annular belt, and an output shaft of the material blocking cylinder is used for being close to or far away from the material carrying member.

In one embodiment, the material blocking member further includes an inductor, where the inductor is disposed on the substrate or the material blocking member, and the orientation of the inductor is the same as the orientation of the output shaft of the material blocking cylinder.

In one embodiment, the width of the endless belt is greater than the thickness of the wheel.

In one embodiment, the material carrying piece comprises a material carrying plate, a pushing block, a reset spring and two clamping blocks, wherein the material carrying plate is slidably arranged on the base plate, the pushing block is slidably arranged on the material carrying plate, the reset spring is respectively abutted against the pushing block and the material carrying plate, the two clamping blocks are slidably arranged on the material carrying plate, the two clamping blocks are connected with the pushing block, the two clamping blocks are respectively arranged on two sides of the annular belt, and the material blocking piece is used for pushing the pushing block when sliding relative to the material carrying plate, so that the reset spring is compressed, and the pushing block drives the two clamping blocks to be respectively far away from the annular belt.

In one embodiment, the material carrying plate is provided with a clearance groove, the annular belt is positioned in the clearance groove, and the two clamping blocks are positioned on two sides of the clearance groove.

In one embodiment, the substrate is provided with an annular groove, the material carrying piece further comprises a roller, the roller is rotatably arranged on the material carrying plate, and the roller is accommodated in the annular groove.

In one embodiment, two annular grooves are formed, the two annular grooves are respectively located on two side surfaces of the substrate, the plurality of rollers are arranged, each roller is divided into two groups, one group of rollers is located in one annular groove, and the other group of rollers is located in the other annular groove.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has at least the following advantages:

the invention relates to a stacking assembly line, which comprises a substrate and a transferring assembly, wherein the transferring assembly comprises a driving part, an annular belt, two rotating wheels, at least one material blocking part and at least one material carrying part, the two rotating wheels are respectively arranged on the substrate in a rotating way, the annular belt is sleeved on the two rotating wheels, the driving part is arranged on the substrate, an output shaft of the driving part is connected with one rotating wheel, each material carrying part is arranged on the substrate in a sliding way along the annular belt, each material blocking part is arranged on the substrate, each material blocking part is arranged adjacent to the annular belt, when the material blocking part pushes against the material carrying part, the material carrying part is separated from the annular belt, so that the material carrying part is static relative to the substrate, and when the material blocking part is far away from the material carrying part, the material carrying part is connected with the annular belt, so that the annular belt drives the material carrying part to slide relative to the substrate. Like this, bear the weight of the material by carrying the material spare, just can carry out the accumulation and put the control to the material for be controllable structure of separation between annular belt and each material spare, compare in traditional fixed knot constructs, the accumulation of this application puts the assembly line and can control the motion and the stop of carrying the material spare as required, and the flexibility is better, has better compatibility to the automation equipment of different stations.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and other related drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an accumulation assembly line according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an endless belt and a wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a portion of the carrier shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a portion of the carrier shown in FIG. 3 at another angle;

fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the carrier shown in fig. 3.

Detailed Description

In order that the invention may be readily understood, a more complete description of the invention will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings. The drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention.

Referring to fig. 1, a stacking assembly line 10 includes a substrate 100 and a transfer assembly 200, the transfer assembly 200 includes a driving member 210, an annular belt 220, two rotating wheels 230, at least one blocking member 240 and at least one carrying member 250, the two rotating wheels 230 are rotatably disposed on the substrate 100, the annular belt 220 is sleeved on the two rotating wheels 230, the driving member 210 is disposed on the substrate 100, an output shaft of the driving member 210 is connected with one of the rotating wheels 230, each carrying member 250 is slidably disposed on the substrate 100 along the annular belt 220, each blocking member 240 is disposed on the substrate 100, and each blocking member 240 is disposed adjacent to the annular belt 220, so that when the blocking member 240 pushes against the carrying member 250, the carrying member 250 is separated from the annular belt 220, thereby enabling the carrying member 250 to be stationary relative to the substrate 100, and when the blocking member 240 is far away from the carrying member 250, the carrying member 250 is connected with the annular belt 220, thereby enabling the annular belt 220 to drive the carrying member 250 to slide relative to the substrate 100.

It should be noted that, the two rotating wheels 230 are rotatably mounted on the base plate 100 through bearings, and the two rotating wheels 230 are respectively located at two ends of the base plate 100, the annular belt 220 is sleeved on the two rotating wheels 230, so that the two rotating wheels 230 tension the annular belt 220, the driving member 210 is mounted on the base plate 100, and an output shaft of the driving member 210 is connected with one rotating wheel 230, so that the driving member 210 can drive the annular belt 220 to rotate continuously. Each material blocking member 240 is mounted on the substrate 100, and any two adjacent material blocking members 240 are not equidistantly disposed, that is, each material blocking member 240 is disposed along the annular belt 220, and the distance between each material blocking member 240 is set according to actual needs. Each carrier 250 is slidably mounted on the substrate 100, and each carrier 250 is also disposed along the endless belt 220, such that the endless belt 220 is capable of driving each carrier 250 to slide with respect to the substrate 100. Specifically, when the blocking member 240 approaches the endless belt 220, such that the blocking member 240 pushes against the carrier member 250, the carrier member 250 is separated from the endless belt 220, so that the endless belt 220 can keep rotating, and the carrier member 250 is stopped to be stationary with respect to the substrate 100. It should be noted that the carriers 250 behind the stopped carrier 250 are sequentially stopped when they are successively brought into contact with the carriers 250 at rest in front, and thus are all at rest. Further, when the blocking member 240 moves away from the carrier member 250, the carrier member 250 resumes connection with the endless belt 220, so that the endless belt 240 can move the carrier member 250 again. In this way, the material is carried by the material carrying members 250, so that the stacking control of the material can be performed, and the annular belt 220 and each material carrying member 250 are in a controllable separated structure. Therefore, when the stacking type assembly line 10 of the present application is used in an automation device, as the number of stations increases, the number and positions of the material blocking members 240 need to be set according to the number of stations, so that the material loading members 250 can be accurately controlled to be stopped at the positions corresponding to the stations. Compared with the traditional fixed structure, the stacking type assembly line 10 can control the movement and stop of the material carrying part 250 according to the requirement, has better flexibility and has better compatibility to automation equipment of different stations.

In one embodiment, the driving member 210 is a motor. The motor continuously drives the endless belt 220 to rotate, so that the endless belt 220 can stably drive each carrier 250 to move. Further, a decelerator may be further added between the driving member 210 and the rotating wheel 230, and the output torque force can be increased through the decelerator, so that the loading capacity of the endless belt 220 is increased.

In one embodiment, the annular band 220 is circular in cross-section. Specifically, the annular belt 220 is set to be a circular belt, so that the circumferential wall of the rotating wheel 230 can be correspondingly provided with an arc-shaped groove matched with the circular belt, and when the annular belt 220 continuously rotates, no position deviation occurs between the annular belt 220 and the rotating wheel 230, so that the control precision of the power and free type assembly line 10 is ensured.

In one embodiment, the blocking member 240 is a single cylinder mounted on the base plate 100, the drive shaft of the single cylinder being able to move closer to or further from the endless belt 220, and the drive shaft being able to push against the carrier member 250 when approaching the endless belt 220.

Referring to fig. 1, in an embodiment, the blocking member 240 includes two blocking cylinders 241, the two blocking cylinders 241 are disposed on the substrate 100, and the two blocking cylinders 241 are respectively disposed on two sides of the endless belt 220, and an output shaft of the blocking cylinder 241 is used for being close to or far from the material carrying member 250.

It should be noted that, two material blocking cylinders 241 are respectively installed at two sides of the annular belt 241, the two material blocking cylinders 241 are in a synchronous working state, and output shafts of the two material blocking cylinders 241 can simultaneously extend or simultaneously retract. When the output shafts of the two material blocking cylinders 241 extend simultaneously, the two output shafts simultaneously push against the material carrying member 250, thereby stopping the material carrying member 250. In this way, the two material blocking cylinders 241 are arranged to push the material carrying member 250 at the same time, so that the stability of the material carrying member 250 can be ensured.

Referring to fig. 1, in an embodiment, the material blocking member 240 further includes an inductor 242, the inductor 242 is disposed on the substrate 100 or the material blocking member 240, and the orientation of the inductor 242 is the same as the orientation of the output shaft of the material blocking cylinder 241. It should be noted that, when the carrier 250 is successfully stopped, the control system needs to feed back a signal to the carrier 250 that the carrier 250 is in place, so that the sensor 242 is mounted on the substrate 100, and the sensor 242 is disposed towards the endless belt 220. In one embodiment, the sensor 242 is a metal sensor and the carrier 250 is a metal structure.

Referring to fig. 2, in one embodiment, the width B of the annular band 220 is greater than the thickness C of the wheel 230. It should be noted that, in order to enable the endless belt 220 to stably drive the carrier 250 to slide, the carrier 250 needs to clamp the endless belt 220, and when the endless belt 220 drives the carrier 250 to pass the rotating wheel 230, in order to avoid interference of the rotating wheel 230 with the carrier 250, the width of the endless belt 220 is set to be greater than the thickness of the rotating wheel 230, so that the carrier 250 reliably clamps the endless belt 220.

Referring to fig. 1 and 3, in an embodiment, a carrier 250 includes a carrier plate 251, a push block 252, a return spring 253 and two clamping blocks 254, the carrier plate 251 is slidably disposed on the substrate 100, the push block 252 is slidably disposed on the carrier plate 251, the return spring 253 is respectively abutted against the push block 252 and the carrier plate 251, the two clamping blocks 254 are slidably disposed on the carrier plate 251, the two clamping blocks 254 are respectively connected with the push block 252, the two clamping blocks 254 are respectively disposed at two sides of the endless belt 220, and when the material blocking member 240 is used for pushing the push block 252 to slide relative to the carrier plate 251, the return spring 253 is compressed, and the push block 252 drives the two clamping blocks 254 to be respectively away from the endless belt 220.

It should be noted that, the loading plate 251 is slidably mounted on the base plate 100, the pushing block 252 is slidably mounted on the loading plate 251, and the restoring spring 253 pushes the pushing block 252 and the loading plate 251 respectively, wherein the pushing block 252 is located in front of the sliding direction of the loading plate 251, so when the output shaft of the blocking member 240 extends, the pushing block 252 is pushed, so that the restoring spring 253 is compressed by the pushing force. Both clamping blocks 254 are slidably mounted on the carrier plate 251, and both clamping blocks 254 are connected with the pushing block 252, so that when the pushing block 252 is pushed by the output shaft of the material blocking member 240, the pushing block 252 drives both clamping blocks 254 to slide away from the endless belt 220, so that the material carrying member 250 is separated from the endless belt 220, and the material carrying member 250 is stopped. When the output shaft of the blocking member 240 retreats, the push block 252 is reset under the elastic thrust of the return spring 253, so that the push block 252 drives the two clamping blocks 254 to approach and abut against the annular belt 220, so that the two clamping blocks 254 clamp the annular belt 220 together. In this way, the endless belt 220 can drive the carrier 250 to return to motion.

Referring to fig. 3, in an embodiment, a clearance groove 251a is formed on the carrier plate 251, the annular belt 220 is located in the clearance groove 251a, and two clamping blocks 254 are located at two sides of the clearance groove 251 a.

It should be noted that, in order to enable the clamping blocks 254 to stably clamp the annular belt 220, the carrier plate 251 is provided with a clearance groove 251a, so that the annular belt 220 is accommodated in the clearance groove 251a, and two clamping blocks 254 can clamp two sides of the annular belt 220.

Referring to fig. 1 and 3, in an embodiment, the substrate 100 is provided with an annular groove 110, the carrier 250 further includes a roller 255, the roller 255 is rotatably disposed on the carrier 251, and the roller 255 is accommodated in the annular groove 110.

In order to improve the sliding stability of the carrier plate 251, the annular groove 110 is formed in the base plate 100, and the roller 255 is mounted on the carrier plate 251 such that the roller 255 rolls along the annular groove 110, and the carrier plate 251 can slide along the annular belt 220.

In one embodiment, two annular grooves 110 are formed, two annular grooves 110 are respectively located on two sides of the substrate 100, a plurality of rollers 255 are provided, each roller 255 is divided into two groups, one group of rollers 255 is located in one annular groove 110, and the other group of rollers 255 is located in the other annular groove 110. Thus, the sliding stability of the carrier plate 251 relative to the substrate 100 is further improved.

In one embodiment, two return springs 253 are provided, and the two return springs 253 are located on both sides of the endless belt 220. It should be noted that, by pushing the pushing block 252 by the two return springs 253 at the same time, it is ensured that the pushing block 252 maintains a force balance when sliding relative to the loading plate 251.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, in an embodiment, a limiting groove 251b is further formed on the carrier plate 251, and at least a portion of the return spring 253 is accommodated in the limiting groove 251 b. In this way, the return spring 253 is limited by the inner side wall of the limiting groove 251b when being stressed and compressed, so that the return spring 253 is prevented from falling off.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, the pushing block 252 is provided with a limiting post 259, and the return spring 253 is at least partially sleeved on the limiting post 259. Thus, when the pushing block 252 is pushed by the material blocking member 240, the limiting column 259 is at least partially accommodated in the limiting groove 251b, so that the stability of the return spring 253 can be improved, and the return spring 253 is prevented from falling off.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, in an embodiment, a chute 251c is further formed on the material carrying plate 251, the chute 251c is communicated with the avoidance slot 251a, and two clamping blocks 254 are slidably disposed in the chute 251c.

In order to increase the lateral strength of the clamp block 254, a slide groove 251c is formed, and the clamp block 254 is slidably mounted in the slide groove 251c. Further, in one embodiment, the extension line of the extending direction of the sliding groove 251c is perpendicular to the extension line of the extending direction of the avoiding groove 251 a. As such, as the clamping blocks 254 slide out along the sliding grooves 251c, the clamping blocks 254 follow the radial direction of the endless belt 220 to clamp the endless belt 220. So that the carrier 250 is reliably fixed to the endless belt 220.

Referring to fig. 1 and 3, in one embodiment, the carrier 250 further includes a carrier 256, and the carrier 256 is detachably disposed on the carrier 251. For example, the carrier 256 is fixed on the carrier plate 251 by bolts, and the carrier 256 is used for carrying materials.

Referring to fig. 3, in one embodiment, the clamping block 254 is provided with a plurality of teeth 257 on a side surface adjacent to the annular band 220.

In this way, when each tooth 257 abuts against the annular belt 220, the friction force between the clamping blocks 254 and the annular belt 220 can be increased, so as to improve the reliability of connection between the material carrying member 250 and the annular belt 220. In one embodiment, the teeth 257 and the clamping blocks 254 are integrally formed.

Referring to fig. 3, in an embodiment, the carrier 250 further includes two clamping springs 258, one ends of the two clamping springs 258 are respectively abutted against the carrier plate 251, and the other ends of the two clamping springs 258 are respectively abutted against the two clamping blocks 254.

When the output shaft of the blocking member 240 is retracted, the push block 252 is returned by the elastic urging force of the return spring 253, and at this time, in order to ensure that the two clamp blocks 254 clamp the endless belt 220 reliably. A clamping spring 258 is thus provided on each of the two clamping blocks 254, so that the clamping blocks 254 are pushed by the clamping springs 258, so that the two clamping blocks 254 reliably clamp the annular belt 220. It should be noted that the thrust direction of the clamping spring 258 is perpendicular to the thrust direction of the return spring 253.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, in one embodiment, two sides of the pushing block 252 are respectively provided with an inclined pushing surface 252a, two clamping blocks 254 are respectively provided with an inclined top surface 254a, and the two inclined pushing surfaces 252a are respectively abutted against the two inclined top surfaces 254 a.

It should be noted that, when the pushing block 252 is pushed and slid by the material blocking member 240, the inclined pushing surface 252a and the inclined top surface 254a have an inclined angle structure, so that the pushing block 252 generates a component force in the sliding direction of the clamping block 254, thereby driving the clamping block 254 to slide away from the endless belt 220. When the blocking piece 240 is far away from the pushing block 252, the pushing block 252 is reset under the elastic thrust of the reset spring 253, so that the inclined pushing surface 252a is far away from the inclined top surface 254a, and further, the clamping block 254 clamps the annular belt 220 under the elastic thrust of the clamping spring 258.

Referring to fig. 6, in one embodiment, a length D of the inclined pushing surface 252a is smaller than a maximum slidable distance E of the pushing block 252 relative to the carrier plate 251.

It should be noted that, in order to maintain the state that the two clamping blocks 254 slide away from the endless belt 220, the length D of the inclined pushing surface 252a is set smaller than the maximum slidable distance E of the pushing block 252 relative to the carrier plate 251, and when the pushing block 252 is pushed and slid to the limit position by the material blocking member 240, the inclined pushing surface 252a is separated from the inclined top surface 254a, so that no component force is generated between the pushing block 252 and the clamping block 254, so that the clamping block 254 cannot slide, and the state that the clamping block 254 is away from the endless belt 220 is maintained.

The above examples illustrate only a few embodiments of the invention, which are described in detail and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, which are all within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present invention is to be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An accumulation and release type assembly line, comprising:

2. The power and free assembly line of claim 1, wherein the drive member is a motor.

3. The power and free assembly line of claim 1, wherein the annular band is circular in cross-section.

4. The accumulation and release type assembly line according to claim 1, wherein the material blocking part comprises two material blocking cylinders, the two material blocking cylinders are arranged on the substrate, the two material blocking cylinders are respectively positioned on two sides of the annular belt, and an output shaft of the material blocking cylinder is used for being close to or far away from the material carrying part.

5. The accumulation assembly line of claim 4, wherein the material blocking member further comprises an inductor, the inductor is disposed on the substrate or the material blocking member, and the orientation of the inductor is the same as the orientation of the output shaft of the material blocking cylinder.

6. The power and free assembly line of claim 1, wherein the width of the endless belt is greater than the thickness of the wheel.

7. The stacking assembly line of claim 1, wherein the material carrying member comprises a material carrying plate, a pushing block, a reset spring and two clamping blocks, the material carrying plate is slidably arranged on the base plate, the pushing block is slidably arranged on the material carrying plate, the reset spring is respectively abutted to the pushing block and the material carrying plate, the two clamping blocks are slidably arranged on the material carrying plate, the two clamping blocks are respectively connected with the pushing block, the two clamping blocks are respectively positioned on two sides of the annular belt, and the material blocking member is used for pushing the pushing block to compress the reset spring when sliding relative to the material carrying plate, and the pushing block drives the two clamping blocks to be respectively far away from the annular belt.

8. The accumulation assembly line of claim 7, wherein a clearance groove is formed in the material carrying plate, the annular belt is located in the clearance groove, and two clamping blocks are located on two sides of the clearance groove.

9. The stacking assembly line of claim 7, wherein the base plate is provided with an annular groove, the material carrying member further comprises a roller, the roller is rotatably arranged on the material carrying plate, and the roller is accommodated in the annular groove.

10. The power and free assembly line of claim 9, wherein two annular grooves are formed, the two annular grooves are respectively located on two sides of the substrate, the plurality of rollers are provided, each roller is divided into two groups, one group of rollers is located in one annular groove, and the other group of rollers is located in the other annular groove.