OPERATOR GROUP FOR WOOD PANEL EDGEBANDING MACHINES OR THE LIKE

Abstract

 An operating assembly for edgebanding machines to edgeband panels (2) made of wood or the like is provided with at least one cutting tool to process at least one panel (2) and/or a finishing edge (7) mounted on a lateral face (5) of the panel (2), with a copy attachment (18) designed, in use, to come into contact with the finishing edge (7), with a first pushing device (24), which is pre-loaded so as to exert, upon the copy attachment (18), a force other than zero when the copy attachment (18) is disengaged from the panel (2), and with a second pushing device (30), which is configured so as to exert, upon the copy attachment (18), a zero force when the copy attachment (18) is disengaged from the panel (2) and a force other than zero when the copy attachment (18) is engaged on the panel (2).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application claims priority from Italian patent application no. 102021000003059 filed on February 11, 2021.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The invention relates to an operating assembly for edgebanding machines to edgeband panels made of wood or the like.

PRIOR ART

[0003] Each panel has two main lateral faces, which are parallel to one another, two first smaller lateral faces, which are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the main lateral faces, and two second smaller lateral faces, which are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the first smaller lateral faces.

[0004] The panel is moved in a first direction, which is parallel to the second smaller lateral faces, at first through an edgebanding station, where a finishing edge is applied onto one of the second smaller lateral faces, and then through at least one finishing station (normally a plurality of finishing stations), where an operating assembly, for example a trimming assembly, an edge scraping assembly and/or a rounding assembly, processes the finishing edge and/or the panel.

[0005] The operating assembly comprises, in particular, a support frame; a first slide, which is coupled to the support frame in a sliding manner so as to make, relative to the support frame, straight movements in a second direction, which is transverse to the first direction and orthogonal to a panel support surface; a first copy attachment, which is carried by the first slide and is designed, in use, to come into contact with a main lateral face of the panel; a second slide, which is coupled to the first slide in a sliding manner so as to make, relative to the first slide, straight movements in a third direction, which is orthogonal to the aforesaid first and second direction and parallel to the support surface; a second copy attachment, which is carried by the second slide and is designed, in use, to come into contact with the finishing edge; and a cutting device, which is carried by the second slide in order to process the finishing edge and/or the panel.

[0006] The operating assembly further comprises a first pre-loaded pushing device, which is interposed between the support frame and the first slide in order to keep the first copy attachment in contact with the relative main lateral face; and a second pre-loaded pushing device, which is interposed between the first slide and the second slide in order to keep the second copy attachment in contact with the finishing edge.

[0007] Therefore, the two pushing devices allow the cutting device to hold the correct position based on the profile of the main lateral face in contact with the first copy attachment and on the profile of the finishing edge in contact with the second copy attachment.

[0008] Generally speaking, the first pushing device comprises at least one first spring, which is coupled to the support frame and to the first slide and is associated with a first adjustment device, which is designed to selectively control the pre-load of the first spring so as to exert, upon the first copy attachment, a first force other than zero when the first copy attachment is disengaged from the panel and a second force other than zero and greater than the first force when the first copy attachment is engaged on the panel; and the second pushing device comprises at least one second spring, which is coupled to the first slide and to the second slide and is associated with a second adjustment device, which is designed to selectively control the pre-load of the second spring so as to exert, upon the second copy attachment, a first force other than zero when the second copy attachment is disengaged from the panel and a second force other than zero and greater than the first force when the second copy attachment is engaged on the panel.

[0009] The initial position of the first slide in the second direction and of the second slide in the third direction is selectively controlled so as to allow the copy attachments to place themselves in a panel moving path when the copy attachments are disengaged from the panel, thus interfering with the panel.

[0010] Known operating assemblies for edgebanding machines to edgeband panels made of wood or the like of the type described above suffer from some drawbacks, which are mainly due to the fact that, when the panel comes into contact with the two copy attachments, the two pushing devices do not ensure that the copy attachments always remain in contact with the main lateral face of panel and with the finishing edge, thus preventing the cutting device from correctly carrying out the processing of the finishing edge and/or of the panel.

SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The object of the invention is to provide an operating assembly for edgebanding machines to edgeband panels made of wood 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 an operating assembly for edgebanding machines to edgeband panels made of wood or the like as claimed in 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 operating assembly according to the invention;

figure 2 is a schematic plan view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of the operating assembly of figure 1;

figure 3 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of a detail of the operating assembly of figures 1 and 2;

figure 4 is a schematic front view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of a detail of figure 3;

figure 5 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of a variant of the operating assembly of figure 1;

figure 6 is a schematic plan view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of the operating assembly of figure 5;

figure 7 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of a detail of the operating assembly of figures 5 and 6;

figure 8 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of a first variant of the detail of figure 7; and

figure 9 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of a second variant of the detail of figure 7.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0014] With reference to figures 1 to 4, number 1 indicates, as a whole, an operating assembly, for example a trimming assembly, an edge scraping assembly or a rounding assembly, for the finishing of substantially flat panels 2 made of wood or the like.

[0015] In particular, each panel 2 substantially has the shape of a parallelepiped and is delimited by two main lateral faces 3, which are parallel to one another, by two smaller lateral faces 4, which are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the faces 3, and by two smaller lateral faces 5, which are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the faces 3 and 4.

[0016] The panel 2 is fed through the operating assembly 1 in a horizontal direction 6 and is provided with a finishing edge 7, which is fixed to one of the faces 5.

[0017] The operating assembly 1 comprises, in particular, a support frame 8; a first vertical slide 9, which is coupled to the frame 8 in a sliding manner so as to make, relative to the frame 8, straight movements in a vertical direction 10, which is transverse to the direction 6; and a first horizontal slide 11, which is coupled to the slide 9 in a sliding manner so as to make, relative to the slide 9, straight movements in a horizontal direction 12, which is orthogonal to the directions 6 and 10.

[0018] The operating assembly 1 further comprises a second vertical slide 13, which is coupled to the slide 9 in a sliding manner so as to make, relative to the slide 9 and during a set-up phase of the operating assembly 1, straight movements in the direction 10; and a second horizontal slide 14, which is coupled to the slide 11 in a sliding manner so as to make, relative to the slide 11 and during a set-up phase of the operating assembly 1, straight movements in the direction 12.

[0019] The slide 13 supports a disc copy attachment 15, which is hinged to the slide 13 so as to rotate, relative to the slide 13, around a fulcrum axis 16 parallel to the direction 12 and is delimited by a substantially cylindrical lateral surface 17, which is designed, in use, to come into contact with the lower face 3 of the panel 2.

[0020] The slide 14 supports a disc copy attachment 18, which is hinged to the slide 14 so as to rotate, relative to the slide 14, around a fulcrum axis (not shown) inclined relative to the directions 10 and 12 and is delimited by a lateral surface 19 substantially having the shape of a truncated cone, which is designed, in use, to come into contact with the edge 7.

[0021] According to a variant which is not shown herein, the copy attachments 15, 18 are fixed to the relative slides 13, 14 so as to scrape against the face 3 and the edge 7, respectively.

[0022] The slide 14 further supports a known cutting device, which is not shown herein and is designed to process the panel 2 and/or the edge 7.

[0023] The operating assembly 1 is further provided with a pushing device 20 comprising a pre-loaded compression spring 21, which is interposed between the frame 8 and the slide 9 and is designed to keep, in use, the copy attachment 15 in contact with the relative face 3.

[0024] The device 20 further comprises an adjustment screw 22 to selectively control the pre-load of the spring 21 so as to allow the device 20 to exert, upon the copy attachment 15, a first force other than zero when the copy attachment 15 is disengaged from the panel 2 and a second force other than zero and greater than the first force when the copy attachment 15 is engaged on the panel 2.

[0025] The operating assembly 1 is further provided with a pushing unit 23, which is interposed between the slide 9 and the slide 11 and is designed to keep, in use, the copy attachment 18 in contact with the edge 7.

[0026] The unit 23 comprises a first pushing device 24 provided, in particular, with two extension springs 25, which extend in the direction 12 and are aligned with one another in the direction 10.

[0027] The springs 25 are coupled, on one side, to respective support pins 26 projecting from the slide 9 in the direction 6 and, on the other side, to a plate 27 coupled to an adjustment screw 28 by means of a screw-nut screw coupling.

[0028] The screw 28 extends through the slide 11 in the direction 12 and selectively controls the position of the plate 27 so as to pre-load the springs 25 and allow the device 24 to exert, upon the copy attachment 18, a first force other than zero when the copy attachment 18 is disengaged from the panel 2 and a second force other than zero and greater than the first force when the copy attachment 18 is engaged on the panel 2.

[0029] With reference to what described above, it should be pointed out that:

the device 20 is pre-loaded so as to cause the slide 9 to come into contact and remain in contact with a limit stop pin 29a fixed to the frame 8;

the device 24 is pre-loaded so as to cause the slide 9 to come into contact and remain in contact with a limit stop pin 29b fixed to the slide 11; and

the pre-load of the spring 21 and of the springs 25 allows the copy attachments 15 and 18 to place themselves in a moving path of the panel 2 when the copy attachments 15, 18 are disengaged from the panel 2, thus interfering with the panel 2.

[0030] The unit 23 further comprises a second pushing device 30 provided, in particular, with two extension springs 31, which extend in the direction 12 and are aligned with one another in the direction 10.

[0031] The springs 31 are coupled, on one side, to the pins 26 and, on the other side, to a plate 32 coupled, by means of a screw-nut screw coupling, to an adjustment screw 33, which extends through the slide 11 in the direction 12 and allows the position of the plate 32 to be selectively controlled so that:

when the panel 2 disengages the copy attachment 18, the springs 31 exert, upon the copy attachment 18, a first force that is smaller than the force exerted upon the copy attachment 18 by the springs 25; and

when the panel 2 engages the copy attachment 18, the springs 31 are loaded by the movement of the slide 11 and, hence, of the plate 32 in the direction 12 so as to exert, upon the copy attachment 18, a second force that is greater than the first force.

[0032] In particular, the springs 31 are not pre-loaded and the first force is zero.

[0033] In other words, the slide 11 and, hence, the copy attachment 18 are subjected to the sole non-zero force of the springs 25 when the panel 2 disengages the copy attachment 18 and to the non-zero forces of the springs 25 and of the springs 31 when the panel 2 engages the copy attachment 18. As a consequence, the copy attachment 18 always remains in contact with the edge 7 without ever detaching itself from it, thus ensuring a correct processing of the panel 2 and/or of the edge 7 by means of the aforesaid cutting device (which is not shown herein).

[0034] Obviously, according to some variants which are not shown herein:

the number of the springs 25 and of the springs 31 is different from two; and

the pushing unit 23 is interposed between the frame 8 and the slide 9 and, hence, the copy attachment 15.

[0035] The variant of figures 5, 6 and 7 differs from the one shown in the preceding figures only in that, in it, the plates 27, 32 and the adjustment screws 28, 33 are eliminated.

[0036] The plates 27, 32 are replaced by one single coupling plate 34 for the springs 25, 31 and the screws 28, 33 are replaced by on single adjustment screw 35 extending through the slide 11 in the direction 12.

[0037] Since the screw 35 is coupled, by means of a screw-nut screw coupling, to a point of the plate 34 arranged on the opposite side relative to the springs 31 with respect to a plane containing the springs 25 and the screw-nut screw coupling between the plate 34 and the screw 35 has a clearance due to processing tolerances, the plate 34 is inclined at an angle other than 90° relative to the direction 12.

[0038] As a consequence, the screw 35 allows the position of the plate 34 to be selectively controlled so that:

when the panel 2 disengages the copy attachment 18, the springs 31 exert, upon the copy attachment 18, a first force that is smaller than the force exerted upon the copy attachment 18 by the springs 25; and

when the panel 2 engages the copy attachment 18, the springs 31 are loaded by the movement of the slide 11 and of the plate 34 in the direction 12 so as to exert, upon the copy attachment 18, a second force that is greater than the first force.

[0039] In particular, the springs 31 are not pre-loaded and the first force is zero.

[0040] The variant shown in figure 8 differs from the one shown in figures 1 to 4 only in that, in it, the springs 25 and the plate 27 are eliminated and replaced by an actuator cylinder 36, which is fixed to the slide 9 parallel to the direction 12 and has an output rod 37 connected to the slide 11.

[0041] The cylinder 36 is connected to a pressurized fluid supplying device (not shown) through the interposition of a pressure adjuster 38.

[0042] The adjuster 38 selectively controls the pressure of the fluid supplied to the cylinder 36, so that the cylinder 36 exerts, upon the copy attachment 18, a first force other than zero when the copy attachment 18 is disengaged from the panel 2 and a second force other than zero, in particular equal to the first force, when the copy attachment 18 is engaged on the panel 2.

[0043] The variant shown in figure 9 differs from figures 1 to 4 only in that, in it, the springs 25 and the plate 27 are eliminated and replaced by a compression spring 39.

[0044] The spring 39 is fitted onto a support rod 40 projecting from the slide 9 in the direction 12 and is interposed between the slide 11 and an adjustment nut 41, which is screwed onto the rod 40 and pre-loads the spring 39, hence exerting, upon the copy attachment 18, a first force other than zero when the copy attachment 18 is disengaged from the panel 2 and a second force greater than the first force when the copy attachment 18 is engaged on the panel 2.

Claims

1. An operating assembly for edgebanding machines to edgeband panels (2) made of wood or the like, each panel (2) being delimited by a first lateral face (3) and by a second lateral face (5), which is orthogonal to the first lateral face (3) and is provided with a finishing edge (7); the operating assembly comprising a support structure (8); at least one cutting tool to process the finishing edge (7) and/or the panel (2); a copy attachment (15; 18), which is designed to be arranged in contact, in use, with the first lateral face (3) or the finishing edge (7) and is coupled to the support structure (8) so as to move, relative to the support structure (8), in a direction (10; 12), which is perpendicular to the first lateral face (3) or to the finishing edge (7), depending on a profile of the first lateral face (3) or of the finishing edge (7); and a pushing unit (23), which is interposed between the support structure (8) and the copy attachment (15; 18) so as to keep the copy attachment (15; 18) in contact with the first lateral face (3) or with the finishing edge (7); the pushing unit (23) comprising, in turn, a first pushing device (24), which is pre-loaded so as to exert a first force other than zero upon the copy attachment (15; 18) when the copy attachment (15; 18) is disengaged from the panel (2); and being characterized in that the pushing unit (23) further comprises a second pushing device (30) exerting a second force, which is smaller than the first force, in particular equal to zero, upon the copy attachment (15; 18) when the copy attachment (15; 18) is disengaged from the panel (2) and a third force other than zero, which is greater than the second force, when the copy attachment (15; 18) is engaged on the panel (2).

2. The operating assembly according to claim 1, wherein the pushing unit (23) further comprises a first adjustment device (28; 35; 38; 41) to selectively control the pre-load of the first pushing device (24).

3. The operating assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pushing unit (23) further comprises a second adjustment device (33), which is independent of the first adjustment device (28; 35; 38; 41), to selectively control the pre-load of the second pushing device (30).

4. The operating assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first pushing device (24) comprises at least one first spring (25; 39), which is interposed between the support structure (8) and the copy attachment (15; 18).

5. The operating assembly according to claim 4, wherein the first spring (25) is an extension spring.

6. The operating assembly according to claim 4, wherein the first spring (39) is a compression spring.

7. The operating assembly according to any one of the claims from 1 to 3, wherein the first pushing device (24) comprises at least one actuator cylinder (36), which is mounted between the support structure (8) and the copy attachment (15; 18).

8. The operating assembly according to claim 7, wherein the first pushing device (24) further comprises a pressure adjuster (38) to selectively control the pressure of a fluid fed to the actuator cylinder (36) and, hence, the pre-load of the actuator cylinder (36) itself.

9. The operating assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second pushing device (30) comprises at least one second spring (31), which is interposed between the support structure (8) and the copy attachment (15; 18).

10. The operating assembly according to claim 9, wherein the second spring (31) is an extension spring.

11. The operating assembly according to claim 9 or 10, when they depend on claim 4 or 5, wherein the pushing unit (23) further comprises an adjustment device (34, 35) to selectively control the pre-load of the two pushing devices (24, 30); the adjustment device (34, 35) comprising an adjustment screw (35), which is carried by the copy attachment (15; 18), and a plate (34), which is connected to the adjustment screw (35) and is arranged at an angle other than 90° relative to the direction (10; 12); each one of said first and second springs (25, 31) being coupled to the support structure (8) and to the plate (34).

12. The operating assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, in use, the copy attachment (15; 18) and the cutting tool are integral to one another in said direction (10; 12) under the thrust of the panel (2).

13. The operating assembly according to any one of the preceding claims and further comprising a slide (9; 11), which is coupled to the support structure (8) in a sliding manner so as to move, relative to the support structure (8), in said direction (10; 12); the pushing unit (23) being interposed between the support structure (8) and the slide (9; 11) and the copy attachment (15; 18) and the cutting tool being carried by the slide (9; 11).

Drawing