[0001] It is known that in making shoes the shoe bottom is submitted to the action of a
carding machine for eliminating the step formed on bending of the vamp edges onto
the shoe bottom and for improving setting of the next vamp cementing operation.
[0002] For speeding up the different operations, automatic carding machines have been conceived
on which an operator sequentially mounts the shoes to be processed. Following a predetermined
program, a machine moves a head of a roughening tool along the shoe edge. When the
operation has been completed, the operator takes the shoe away from the machine and
mounts it again on a next automatic machine provided with a cement-applying head which
also moves along the shoe bottom according to a predetermined program.
[0003] It is well apparent that the processing involves down time as a result of the continuous
operations for mounting and removing shoes from the machines. In addition, the cementing
head hardly follows the roughened track formed by the carding machine in an accurate
and exact manner due to the unavoidable inexactitutes occurring when the shoe is mounted
to the supports of the two machines.
[0004] The general object of the present invention is to obviate the above drawbacks by
providing an automatic machine capable of carrying out both roughening and cementing
operations, while at the same time optimizing the processing time by the simultaneous
working of two shoes.
[0005] In view of the above object, in accordance with the invention a carding-cementing
machine for shoes has been conceived which comprises a pair of supports each supporting
a shoe to be worked, a first and a second working head being disposed above said supports,
the first working head comprising a carding tool and the second head comprising a
cement-delivering tool, said supports and working heads being mutually movable so
that the carding tool can travel over a predetermined path on the bottom of a shoe
disposed on the first support while the cementing tool can cover a predetermined path
on the bottom of a second shoe disposed on the second support, the mutual positions
between the supports and the working heads being interchangeable with respect to each
other so that the carding tool may be also capable of travelling over a predetermined
path on the bottom of a shoe disposed on the second support, while the cementing tool
can follow a predetermined path on the bottom of another shoe disposed on the first
support.
[0006] For better explaining the innovatory principles of the present invention and the
advantages it offers as compared to the known art, a possible embodiment of the invention
putting said principles into practice will be given hereinafter by way of non-limiting
example with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational front view of a machine according to the invention;
- Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in Fig. 1.
[0007] Referring to the drawings, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, a machine in accordance with
the invention and generally denoted by 10 comprises a supporting frame 11 bearing
two carriages 12, 13, each designed to receive a corresponding last or shoe to be
made 14, 15 having its bottom turned upwardly.
[0008] As better shown in Fig. 2 and explained in the following, carriages 12, 13 are movable
transversely of the machine extension along horizontal guide rails 16, 17. One working
or carding head 18 and a second working or cementing head are present above the carriages
12, 13. The first working head 18 is movable horizontally in a direction longitudinal
to the machine along guide rails 19 supported by a carriage 20 which in turn is vertically
movable along guides 21 fastened to the frame 11. For example, movement of the head
18 can take place by a lead-screw unit 22 operated by an electric motor 23, whereas
the vertical movement of carriage 20 can take place by means of a second lead-screw
unit 24 operated by an electric motor 25.
[0009] The second working head 26 is on the contrary movable vertically along a vertical
guide 27, in turn supported by a carriage 28 horizontally movable along guide rails
29 supported by the frame 11 and parallel to the guide rails 19.
[0010] For example, movement of the head 26 can take place by means of a lead-screw unit
30 operated by an electric motor 31, whereas the horizontal movement of carriage 28
can take place by means of a second lead-screw unit 32 operated by an electric motor
33.
[0011] As can be viewed from Fig. 2, the guides by which the frame supports said heads are
offset with respect to each other in a horizontal direction transversely of the machine,
so that mutual interferences of the heads are avoided while said heads are moving.
Carriages 12, 13 supporting the shoe are power driven to be movable along the respective
guide rails 16, 17 between a receded position and an advanced position which are located
to the farthest right and left ends respectively, as viewed looking Fig. 2. Means
for actuating carriages 12, 13, not shown for the sake of simplicity, can consist
of power driven screw-lead units, as described above with reference to the working
head.
[0012] It is obvious that, by moving the support carriages 12, 13, shoes can be alternately
brought to intersect the vertical planes parallel to each other in which the first
or second head moves.
[0013] The support carriages 12, 13 are identical with each other and comprise a base 34,
35 slidable on respective guide rails 16, 17. Each base 34, 35 carries a fixed rear
support and a movable front support for the shoe. Also located on the base is a central
reclining support.
[0014] Since carriages 12, 13 are identical with each other, only one carriage 12 will be
described for the sake of simplicity, referring particularly to Fig. 2. As shown in
said figure, the rear supporting portion 38 comprises two grippers 39 for laterally
tightening the shoe heel area.
[0015] The central support portion comprises a post 36 adjustable in height, on top of which
the shoe last carrying the shoe is fitted, said post being pivotally mounted at the
rear part thereof according to an axis 41 enabling it to be tilted forward by means
of an actuator 42, thereby moving from the upright position drawn in solid line in
the figure to the inclined position drawn in chain line.
[0016] The front support portion 43 comprises a slide 44 horizontally movable along guide
rails 45 parallel to the shoe extension.
[0017] The slide movement can be obtained by power driven screw-lead units not shown in
the drawing for the sake of clarity.
[0018] Grippers 40 are disposed on the slide 44 for laterally tightening the toe portion
of the shoe, and also provided is a locking device 46 for the shoe toe. The device
46 comprises an actuator 47 designed to move it vertically.
[0019] For loading a shoe on the support the slide 44 moves forward to the position in chain
line and the central support is tilted forward for facilitating fitting (this is particularly
useful in case of boots). After the shoe has been positioned on the central support
36, the latter goes back to the upright position, the slide 44 moves back towards
the shoe and grippers 39 and 40 are tightened. The locking device 46 rises and entraps
the shoe toe, which is therefore perfectly fixed.
[0020] The toe locking device ensures the exact positioning of the shoe relative to the
working heads.
[0021] The head 18 comprises a rotating carding brush 54 movable along the periphery of
the shoe bottom. Said carding head 18, being the object of an Italian patent application
No.M191A000950 in the name of the same Applicant, will not be described in detail
but only enough to enable comprehension of the present invention In particular, the
head 18 comprises a slide 48 for movement along the guide rails 19. Fastened to the
slide 48 is a sleeve 49 for rotation of an arm 50 about a vertical axis 51 by means
of actuators 52. The arm 50 carries a second arm 53 supporting the power driven carding
rotating brush 54. The arm 53 is movable in the brush plane to enable said brush to
rest on the shoe bottom while exerting a predetermined pressure. The arm 53 may also
be rotated by an actuating means 55 to enable tilting of the brush plane about a tangency
line of the brush to the shoe, so that the brush can be kept tangent to the shoe bottom
while the tool is being moved.
[0022] The axis 51 substantially passes through the contact point of the brush with the
shoe bottom so that upon operation of actuators 52, the brush plane rotates through
180 about this contact point. By virtue of this, the brush, while rotating always
in the same direction, has a rotatory movement at the tangency point with the shoe
bottom which is always directed towards the inside of said bottom over the whole travel
of the head along the shoe perimeter.
[0023] The cementing machine 26 comprises on the contrary a nozzle 56 dispensing cement
in a controlled manner. Such a nozzle 56 is surrounded by a spreading brush 57 rotatably
moved about the nozzle axis by a motor 58 so that cement can be uniformly distributed.
[0024] The nozzle is supported by a kinematic mechanism for its controlled tilting according
to planes transverse and longitudinal to the shoe, so that the nozzle can be maintained
always perpendicular to the shoe bottom while it is moving for carrying out the cementing
operation.
[0025] In particular, the cementing head 26 comprises a slide 59 slidable along a vertical
guide 27. Supported by the slide 59 is a first arched guide 60 extending in a plane
transverse to the machine. Slidable on the arched guide 60 is a carriage 61 moved
by an actuator 62 and supporting a second arched guide 63 extending in a plane longitudinal
to the machine. Slidable on said second arched guide 63 is a carriage 64 driven by
an actuator 65 and supporting the delivery nozzle 56.
[0026] As a person skilled in the art can easily understand, the bending centres of the
arched guides are adapted to identify a rotation centre coinciding with the nozzle
delivery end. In this manner, by moving the carriages on said guides, the nozzle tilts
while at the same time keeping its outlet end fixed.
[0027] All actuators and mechanisms of the above machine are connected to a control device
66 substantially of known type and therefore not shown in detail as it can be easily
envisaged by a person skilled in the art. For example, such a control device may be
embodied by an electronic microprocessor circuit suitably programmed, as will be apparent
from the following description concerning operation.
[0028] Supposing to start, in use, by loading a shoe onto the right-hand carriage 12. Once
the shoe has been locked on the carriage, the carding and roughening head begins moving,
carrying out lifting, lowering and left and right traverse movements, whereas the
carriage 12 moves to and fro so that the brush 54 travels over a predetermined path
along the shoe bottom. This path can be contained in an appropriate memory of the
device 66 where it has been stored during a previous instruction step of the machine.
[0029] In particular, the brush will travel over one shoe edge and will then rotate through
180
° so as to follow the opposite shoe edge. Upon the brush passing close to the shoe toe,
the device 47 will retract the locking device 46, in order to let the brush freely
pass, said locking device being immediately afterwards positioned in place again.
[0030] When work is over, the carding head will park in a position at which it does not
interfere with the shoe and the work heads change of place relative to each other
sliding along the respective horizontal guide rails.
[0031] By its own movement and the corresponding movement of carriage 12, the cement-delivering
nozzle can therefore travel over its path along the shoe bottom as established, while
keeping its outlet opening always tangent thereto.
[0032] While the cementing tool follows its travel path previously inputted to the control
device 66, another shoe can be mounted on the left-hand carriage 13. The carding device
can therefore take the predetermined path on this new shoe while the cementing operation
is being completed on the first shoe.
[0033] Once the cementing operation of the first shoe has been completed, the operator can
unload the shoe last from the machine. When the carding tool has finished working
on the second shoe, the tools will change of place relative to each other again, so
that the cementing tool will be able to cement the second shoe. In the meantime the
operator will be able to load the machine with a third shoe and so forth. It will
be recognized that the working process can go on uninterruptedly, without those pause
periods which are typical in traditional machines for loading and unloading operations.
In addition, carding and cementing operations are carried out on a shoe without moving
it from the support and therefore in a very precise manner.
[0034] At this point it is apparent that the intended purposes are achieved by providing
a machine of high precision and speed.
[0035] Obviously the above description of an embodiment applying the innovatory principles
of the invention is for purposes of illustration only and is not to be interpreted
as a limitation of the inventive scope as herein claimed. For example, the actuators
may be embodied either by electric, or pneumatic or hydraulic elements. In addition,
the carding head may also be a traditional head provided with two rotating brushes,
disposed on either side of the shoe to be processed.
1. A carding-cementing machine for shoes comprising a pair of supports (12, 13), each
supporting a shoe to be worked, a first working head (18) and a second working head
(26) being disposed above said supports (12, 13), the first working head (18) comprising
a carding tool (54) and the second working head (26) comprising a cement-delivering
tool (56), said supports (12, 13) and working heads (18, 26) being mutually movable
so that the carding tool (54) can travel over a predetermined path on the bottom of
a shoe (14) disposed on the first support (12), while the cementing tool (56) can
travel over a predetermined path on the bottom of a second shoe (15) disposed on the
second support (13), the mutual positions between the supports (12, 13) and the working
heads (18, 26) being interchangeable with each other so that the carding tool (54)
may be also capable of travelling over a predetermined path on the bottom of a shoe
disposed on the second support (13) while the cementing tool (56) can follow a predetermined
path on the bottom of another shoe disposed on the first support (12).
2. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the first (12) and second
(13) supports are power driven to slide along respective horizontal guide rails (16,
17) parallel to each other, the working heads (18, 26) being power driven for carrying
out a vertical movement and sliding along respective horizontal guide rails (19, 29)
parallel to each other and transverse to the guide rails (16, 17) of the supports,
so that they can move to the travel path vertical of either support (12, 13) along
the horizontal guide rails (16, 17) of said supports.
3. A machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the horizontal guide rails
(19) for movement of the first working head (18) are supported by a power driven carriage
(20) moving along vertical guides (21) for said vertical shifting of the head (18).
4. A machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the horizontal guide rails
(29) for movement of the second working head (26) carry a power driven carriage (28)
to which a vertical guide (27) is fastened along which the second working head (26)
slides so that it carries out its vertical movement.
5. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the carding tool comprises
at least one rotary carding brush (54) provided with movable support means (50, 53)
adapted to make the brush take such a position that its circumferential edge is tangent
to the bottom of the shoe being worked.
6. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the cement-delivering tool
comprises a cement-delivering nozzle (56) provided with movable support means (60,
63) enabling the nozzle outlet to be substantially positioned tangent to the bottom
of the shoe being worked.
7. A machine according to claim 6, characterized in that the cement-delivering nozzle
(56) comprises a spreading brush (57) rotating around and in coaxial relation with
the cement-delivering nozzle (56) for coating the shoe bottom with the cement coming
out of said nozzle (56).
8. A machine according to claim 5, characterized in that the movable brush-supporting
means comprises a brush-supporting arm (53) to be inclined by actuator means (55)
for imparting the brush (54) an inclination in its plane about the tangency line between
the brush and shoe bottom.
9. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the carding tool comprises
a rotating carding brush (54) provided with support means (50) rotating about a vertical
axis (51) substantially passing through a contact point between the brush (54) peripheral
edge and the bottom of the shoe being worked.
10. A machine according to claim 6, characterized in that the movable support means
for the nozzle (56) comprises a first (60) and a second (63) arched guides disposed
at right angle to each other for identifying a rotation centre coinciding with the
nozzle delivery end, said nozzle being slidably supported by said guides (60, 63)
for its controlled inclination about said centre.
11. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that each of said pair of shoe
supports (12, 13) comprises a rear support (38) provided with grippers (39) for laterally
tightening the shoe heel area, a front support (43) provided with grippers (40) for
laterally tightening the shoe toe area, and a central support (36) for supporting
the shoe last.
12. A machine according to claim 11, characterized in that the front support (43)
comprises a toe locking device (46) operable for being moved from a position at which
it does not interfere with the shoe toe to a position at which it comes into contact
with the shoe toe and locks it.
13. A machine according to claim 11, characterized in that the front support (43)
is movable in the extension direction of the shoe, so that it moves away upon command
from the shoe toe.
14. A machine according to claim 11, characterized in that the central support (36)
can be inclined upon command towards the front portion of the machine, so as to facilitate
fitting of the last thereon.