CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention relates to a deburring machine for the finishing of elements made of
wood, metal, plastic material or the like.
[0003] In particular, the invention can be applied in a particularly advantageous manner
to the removal of burrs from elements obtained by cutting sheet metal.
PRIOR ART
[0004] When dealing with the finishing of elements made of wood, metal, plastic material
or the like, a deburring machine is known, which comprises a conveyor belt, which
has an upper transport branch defining a substantially horizontal support surface
for at least one element and is designed to feed the element in a first direction;
and a deburring assembly, which is mounted above the support surface crosswise to
the first direction.
[0005] The deburring assembly generally comprises a plurality of tool-holder spindles, which
are mounted so as to rotate around respective rotation axes parallel to one another
and substantially perpendicular to the support surface and are designed to each receive
and hold a respective finishing tool.
[0006] The rotation axes of the tool-holder spindles are aligned with one another in a second
direction, which is transverse to the first direction and parallel to the support
surface.
[0007] The tool-holder spindles are caused to rotate around the relative rotation axes by
an operating device comprising, for each tool-holder spindle, a respective toothed
pulley, which is angularly integral to the tool-holder spindle.
[0008] The operating device further comprises a drive belt, which is delimited by two toothed
faces opposite one another and has a drive branch, which is wound in a zigzag shape
around the toothed pulleys of the tool-holder spindles.
[0009] Since the drive branch is wound in a zigzag shape around the toothed pulleys and
each tool-holder spindle is moved around the relative rotation axis in a rotation
direction that is contrary to a rotation direction of each adjacent tool-holder spindle,
known deburring machines of the type described above are affected by some drawbacks
mainly due to the fact that each element processed by the finishing tools of two adjacent
tool-holder spindles is subjected to respective concordant thrust forces, which can
cause the movement of the element relative to the conveyor belt and jeopardize the
precision of the deburring processing.
[0010] Furthermore, known deburring machines of the type described above suffer from a further
drawback lying in the fact that the opposite rotation directions of two adjacent tool-holder
spindles compromise the uniformity of the deburring operations carried out on each
element, in particular in the area of a front end and of a rear end of the element.
SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The object of the invention is to provide a deburring machine for the finishing of
elements made of wood, metal, plastic material or the like, which does not suffer
from the aforementioned drawbacks and can be manufactured in a simple and economic
fashion.
[0012] According to the invention, there is provided a deburring machine for the finishing
of elements made of wood, metal, plastic material or the like according to the appended
claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings,
showing a non-limiting embodiment thereof, wherein:
figure 1 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity,
of a preferred embodiment of the deburring machine according to the invention;
figure 2 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity,
of a detail of the deburring machine of figure 1;
figure 3 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity,
of a detail of figure 2; and
figure 4 is a longitudinal section, with parts removed for greater clarity, of the
detail of figure 3.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0014] With reference to figure 1, number 1 indicates, as a whole, a deburring machine for
the finishing of elements 2 made of wood, metal, plastic material or the like.
[0015] The deburring machine 1 comprises a feeding device 3 to feed the elements 2 one after
the other in a horizontal direction 4.
[0016] The device 3 comprises a conveyor belt 5, which has an upper transport branch defining
a horizontal support surface P for the elements 2 and is wound in a ring shape around
a pair of motor-driven pulleys 6, which are mounted so as to rotate around respective
longitudinal axes 7, which are parallel to one another and to a horizontal direction
8, which is transverse to the direction 4.
[0017] The deburring machine 1 is further provided with a deburring assembly 9 comprising
a gantry frame 10, which is mounted above the conveyor 5 and extends in the direction
8.
[0018] The frame 10 supports a vertical slide 11, which is coupled to the frame 10 in a
known manner so as to make, relative to the frame 10, straight movements in a vertical
direction 12, which is orthogonal to the directions 4 and 8.
[0019] The assembly 9 further comprises a substantially flat horizontal plate 13, which
extends above the plane P in the direction 8, is coupled to the slide 11 in a sliding
manner and is moved, relative to the slide 11 and due to the thrust of a known operating
device 14, with an oscillatory motion in the direction 8.
[0020] The plate 13 supports a plurality of tool-holder spindles 15, which extend through
the plate 13 parallel to the direction 12 and are aligned with one another in the
direction 8.
[0021] The spindles 15 are mounted so as to rotate, relative to the plate 13 and in ways
that are better described below, around respective rotation axes 16 parallel to one
another and to the direction 12 and are designed to each receive and hold a respective
known finishing tool, which is not shown herein.
[0022] Each spindle 15 carries, by means of a spline, a toothed pulley 17 mounted coaxially
to the relative axis 16 and is engaged in a rotary manner through an idler pulley
18, which is delimited by a smooth side face coaxial to the relative axis 16 and is
mounted so as to rotate, relative to the spindle 15, around the relative axis 16.
[0023] The toothed pulley 17 of each spindle 15 faces in a radial manner, namely crosswise
to the relative axis 16 and in the direction 8, the idler pulley 18 of each adjacent
spindle 15 and the idler pulley 18 of each spindle 15 faces in a radial manner, namely
crosswise to the relative axis 16 and in the direction 8, the toothed pulley 17 of
each adjacent spindle 15.
[0024] The toothed pulleys 17 and the idler pulleys 18 define part of a belt transmission
system 19, which is designed to move the spindles 15 around the relative axes 16.
[0025] The system 19 further comprises two toothed pulleys 20 extending in two containing
planes, which are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the direction 12.
[0026] Each belt 20 has a toothed face and is wound in a zigzag shape around a relative
group of toothed pulleys 17 and idler pulleys 18.
[0027] In other words, each belt 20 is alternatively wound in a zigzag shape around a toothed
pulley 17 and an idler pulley 18 so as to allow a relatively small distance between
adjacent axes 16.
[0028] Furthermore, each belt 20 is wound around a pair of further toothed pulleys 21, 22,
which are mounted on the outside of the plate 13 and are coupled to the slide 11 in
a rotary manner so as to rotate, relative to the slide 11, around respective rotation
axes 23, 24, which are parallel to one another and to the axes 16.
[0029] The two toothed pulleys 21 are mounted on a first transmission shaft 25, which is
coaxial to the axis 23, and the two toothed pulleys 22 are mounted on a second transmission
shaft 26, which is coaxial to the axis 24.
[0030] The toothed pulleys 21, 22 and, hence, the belts 20 are caused to rotate by an electric
motor 27, which is mounted on the slide 11 parallel to the direction 12 and has an
output shaft 28 connected to the shaft 25 by means of a transmission belt 29, which
is wound in a ring shape around a pair of toothed pulleys 30 splined on the shafts
25 and 28.
[0031] With regard to the description above, it should be pointed out that each belt 20
is further wound around at least one idler roller 31, which is fitted, in a rotary
manner, on a support pin 32 mounted on the plate 13 parallel to the direction 12.
[0032] Each roller 31 of each belt 20 is mounted coaxially to a corresponding roller 31
of the other belt 20 and is arranged between one of the shafts 25, 26 and the adjacent
spindle 15. As a consequence, each belt 20 comprises, for each idler roller 31, a
curved segment 20a extending around the roller 31 and two straight segments 20b, which
are parallel to one another and are connected to the free ends of the curved segment
20a.
[0033] The deburring machine 1 has some advantages which mainly arise from the fact that
the arrangement and the configuration of the belts 20 allow each spindle 15 to be
moved around the relative axis 16 with a rotation direction that is the same as the
rotation direction of all the other spindles 15.
[0034] As a consequence:
the thrust forces exerted upon each element 2 by the finishing tools (not shown) of
two adjacent spindles 15 are oriented according to opposite and parallel directions
and, therefore, substantially balance each other out, thus preventing the element
2 from being moved relative to the conveyor 5 and avoiding jeopardizing the precision
of the deburring processing; and
the deburring operations carried out on each element 2, in particular in the area
of a front end and of a rear end of the element 2, have a relatively high uniformity
and homogeneity.
1. A deburring machine for the finishing of elements (2) made of wood, metal, plastic
material or the like, the deburring machine comprising a feeding device (3), which
defines a support surface (P) for at least one element (2) and is designed to feed
the element (2) in a first direction (4); and a deburring assembly (9), which is mounted
above the support surface (P) crosswise to the first direction (4) and comprises,
in turn, a plurality of tool-holder spindles (15), which are mounted so as to rotate
around respective rotation axes (16) parallel to one another and substantially perpendicular
to the support surface (P) and are designed to each receive and hold a respective
finishing tool; and being characterized in that the deburring assembly (9) further comprises an operating device (19) to move each
tool-holder spindle (15) around the relative rotation axis (16) in a rotation direction
that is the same as a rotation direction of the other tool-holder spindles (15).
2. A deburring machine according to claim 1, wherein the operating device (19) comprises,
for each tool-holder spindle (15), a respective toothed pulley (17), which is angularly
integral to the tool-holder spindle (15), and a respective idler pulley (18), which
is fitted on the tool-holder spindle (15) in a rotary manner.
3. A deburring machine according to claim 2, wherein the toothed pulley (17) of each
tool-holder spindle (15) is aligned, crosswise to the relative rotation axis (16),
with the idler pulley (18) of each adjacent tool-holder spindle (15), and wherein
the idler pulley (18) of each tool-holder spindle (15) is aligned, crosswise to the
relative rotation axis (16), with the toothed pulley (17) of each adjacent tool-holder
spindle (15).
4. A deburring machine according to claim 3, wherein the operating device (19) comprises
two toothed belts (20), which extend in respective containing planes parallel to one
another and perpendicular to the rotation axes (16) of the tool-holder spindles (15);
each toothed belt (20) being wound around a relative plurality of toothed pulleys
(17) and idler pulleys (18) of the tool-holder spindles (15).
5. A deburring machine according to claim 4, wherein each toothed belt (20) has a branch,
which is wound in a zigzag shape around the relative toothed pulleys (17) and idler
pulleys (18).
6. A deburring machine according to any one of the claims from 2 to 5, wherein each idler
pulley (18) is delimited by a smooth side surface, which is coaxial to the relative
rotation axis (16).
7. A deburring machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rotation
axes (16) of the tool-holder spindles (15) are aligned with one another in a second
direction (8), which is substantially transverse to the first direction (4) and parallel
to the support surface (P) .
8. A deburring machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the deburring
assembly (9) further comprises a support frame (10, 11) and an oscillating plate (13),
which is mounted so as to oscillate, relative to the support frame (10, 11), in a
second direction (8), which is substantially transverse to the first direction (4)
and parallel to the support surface (P); the tool-holder spindles (15) being engaged
in a rotary manner through the oscillating plate (13).
9. A deburring machine according to claim 8, when it depends on claim 4 or 5, wherein
the operating device (19) further comprises, for each toothed belt (20), two respective
further toothed pulleys (21, 22), which are arranged on opposite sides of the tool-holder
spindles (15) in the second direction (8), are mounted on the outside of the oscillating
plate (13) and are coupled to the support frame (10, 11) in a rotary manner so as
to rotate around respective further rotation axes (23, 24), which are parallel to
one another and to the rotation axes (16) of the tool-holder spindles (15).
10. A deburring machine according to claim 9, wherein each toothed belt (20) comprises,
for each further toothed pulley (21, 22), a respective curved segment (20a) extending
around the further toothed pulley (21, 22) and two respective straight segments (20b),
which are parallel to one another and are connected to the free ends of the curved
segment (20a).
11. A deburring machine according to claim 9 or 10, wherein each further toothed pulley
(21, 22) of each toothed belt (20) is coaxial to a further toothed pulley (21, 22)
of the other toothed belt (20).
12. A deburring machine according to any one of the claims from 9 to 11, wherein the operating
device (19) further comprises an electric motor (27), a driving pulley (30), which
is coaxial to a further rotation axis (23), and a transmission belt (29), which is
interposed between an output shaft (28) of the electric motor (27) and the driving
pulley (30).