The present invention relates to an apparatus for production of brushes or brooms .

Apparatuses for production of brushes or brooms are known that are essentially of two types.

A first type of apparatus comprises a supporting element consisting of a substantially horizontal plane, on which is supported a plurality of bristle-holding bodies of brushes or brooms, a plurality of drilling tools for making a surface of said bristle-holding bodies, holes suitable for receiving groups of bristles, and a plurality of movable punches in a substantially vertical direction, i.e. perpendicular to said plane, intended for inserting groups of bristles into the holes made on said surface of said bristle-holding bodies. Each punch moves between a first upper dead point position, in which the punch receives a group of bristles to be inserted into one of said holes of a bristle-holding body and a lower dead point position, in which the punch inserts the group of bristles in a hole of said bristle-holding body. The plane that supports the bristle-holding bodies is movable along two axes X and Y parallel to the surface of the plane to take the bristle- holding bodies from an inserting position on the plane in a drilling position, at the drilling tools, then in a bristle- inserting position, at the inserting punches of the bristles groups and, lastly in an unloading position, at the end of the operation of inserting the groups of bristles. The motion along the axes X and Y of said plane is further used to vary the position of each bristle-holding body with respect to the drilling tools, during the drilling operations, to enable said tools to make rows of holes, which are equally spaced apart, on the bristle-holding body and to vary the position of said bristle-holding bodies with respect to the inserting punches of the groups of bristles, to position in succession the holes made in the bristle- holding body under the movement axis of the respective punch, during the operation of inserting groups of bristles into said holes.

The plane that supports the bristle-holding bodies is further movable parallel to an axis Z that is perpendicular to the plane defined by the axes X and Y and is rotatable around an axis U that is parallel to the plane defined by the X and Y axes. The motion in a direction parallel to the axis Z and around the axis U is used to position the bristle-holding bodies with respect to the drilling tools and to the punches, respectively to make the holes and to insert the groups of bristles, for example when the surface of the bristle-holding body is curved, or to make holes that are tilted with respect to the plane of the bristle-holding body and to insert groups of bristles in said tilted holes. The movement along the axis Z is further used to take the plane that supports the bristle-holding bodies to a rest position, when the apparatus is switched off and to reposition the plane when the apparatus is started up. A second type of apparatus for producing brushes or brooms comprises a rotating turret on which the bristle-holding bodies are supported, around which are arranged, in successive positions along the circumference of the turret, a group of drilling tools and a group of punches for inserting bristles.

A limit of know apparatuses for producing brushes and brooms is due to the stroke of the punch, i.e. to the distance travelled from the lower end of the punch between the upper dead point position, in which a group of bristles is inserted into the punch and the lower dead point position in which the punch comes into contact with the bristle-holding body, to insert the group of bristles into a hole of said body.

This stroke determines the maximum length of the bristles of the groups of bristles that can be used.

In fact, as each group of bristles is folded into the punch folded in half, it is required for the stroke of the punch to be equal or little less than half the length of the group of bristles, to be able to extract the group of bristles from the punch after the group of bristles has been planted into the bristle-holding body.

The maximum length of the bristles that can be used is thus equal to little more than twice the length of the stroke of the punch, for example to approximately 125% of twice the stroke of the punch.

If it is necessary to produce brushes or brooms with groups of bristles of a length that is greater than the maximum length permitted by the apparatus, it is necessary to purchase a new apparatus, with a significant financial burden .

The present invention proposes to provide an apparatus for producing brushes or brooms that is able to use groups of bristles of a length that is much greater than twice the stroke of the punch.

The object of the present invention is achieved with an apparatus having the features of claim 1, of claim 12, or of claim 15.

Examples of embodiments of an apparatus according to the invention are illustrated purely by way of non- limiting example in the table so of attached drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation view of a first embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a view from the left of the apparatus in Figure

1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail of the apparatus in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an elevation view of a second embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the apparatus in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a top view of the apparatus in Figure 4.

In figure 1 there is illustrated a first embodiment of an apparatus 1 according to the invention. The apparatus 1 comprises a frame 2 provided with an upper crosspiece 3 to which a plurality of drilling tools 4 and a plurality of punches 5 are applied for inserting groups of bristles S into bristle-holding bodies 6 for brushes or brooms. The drilling tools 4 and the punches 5 are driven by a first driving means 12, for example an electric motor. The bristle-holding bodies 6 are mounted on supporting elements 7 fixed to a table 8 arranged parallel to a horizontal plane P. The table 8 is connected by guiding elements 10 to a sliding guide 9, parallel to said horizontal plane P. The guiding elements 10 are driven to slide along the sliding guide 9, in a direction parallel to said horizontal plane P, by a driving device 11, for example a rack driving device. The respective ends of the sliding guide 9 are connected to respective slide or carriage elements 22, each of which is slidable on a respective pair of rail elements 23, arranged parallel to the uprights 17 of the frame 2. The connection between the sliding guide 9 and the slide or carriage elements 22, is made in such a manner that the sliding guide 9 can rotate around a U axis parallel to said horizontal plane P. Rotation of the sliding guide 9 around said U axis is commanded by a pair of second driving means 13, for example electric motors. Each of the slide or carriage elements 22, is provided with a respective nutscrew sleeve 14, that is coupled with a respective screw element 15, arranged parallel to the uprights 17 of the frame 2. The screw elements 15 are rotated by respective third driving means 16, for example electric motors, so as to control a shift of the slide or carriage elements 22, and consequently a shift of the sliding guide 9 connected thereto in a direction Z that is perpendicular to said horizontal plane P, so as to shift the bristle-holding bodies 6 mounted on the table 8, between a first position 20 and a second position 21 (Figure 3) in said direction Z. The motion of the slide or carriage elements 22, can alternatively be achieved with a rack system or with linear motors. In figure 3 there is illustrated a detail of the apparatus in Figures 1 and 2, that illustrates the operation of the apparatus 1 according to the invention during the step of extracting a group of bristles S from a punch 5 after the group of bristles S has been inserted into a bristle-holding body 6. The bristle-holding bodies 6 are mounted on the supporting elements 7 fixed to the table 8. In a first processing step, the table 8 moves in such a manner the bristle-holding bodies 6 are below the drilling tools 4, which make a series of holes in the bristle-holding bodies 6, into which holes groups of bristles S will be subsequently inserted to make a brush or a broom.

During the drilling operation the table 8 moves along said horizontal plane P, parallel to said axis Z and possibly rotates around said U axis, such as to enable the drilling tools 4 to make a series of holes distributed along the entire surface of the bristle-holding bodies 6. When the drilling operation has finished, the table 8 moves along the sliding guide 9 to position the drilled bristle- holding bodies 6 under the punches 5 that are intended to insert groups of bristles into the holes made in the bristle- holding bodies 6. Each punch 5 is movable between an upper position, marked by the number 18, in Figure 3 and a lower position, marked by the number 19, in Figure 3, in which a group of bristles S is inserted into a hole of a corresponding bristle-holding body 6.

After the group of bristles S has been inserted into said hole, the punch 5 rises up to said upper position 18, whilst, simultaneously, the slide or carriage elements 22 are moved downwards, i.e. in the opposite direction to the motion of the punch 5 , rotating the screw elements 15 by the third driving means 16, so as to move downwards the sliding guide 9 and the table 8 on which the bristle-holding bodies 6 are mounted, which thus move between said first position 20 and said second position 21. The combined movement of the punch 5 and of the bristle-holding bodies 6 causes the group of bristles S to be extracted from the punch 5, such that the group of bristles S remains fixed on the bristle-holding body 6 and does not interfere with the punch 5, whilst the latter descends again to insert another group of bristles S into another hole of the bristle-holding body 6 and the table 8 is simultaneously returned to said first position 20.

The downward movement of the bristle-holding bodies 6, at the same time as the movement of the punch 5 from said lower position 19 to said upper position 18 enables groups of bristles S to be used the partial length of which is much greater than the stroke C of the punch 5 , i.e. of the distance between said upper position 18 and said lower position 19.

In fact, in order to be able to extract in a reliable manner from the punch 5 a group of bristles S of a length L after the group of bristles S has been inserted into a hole in the bristle-holding body 6, it is necessary to remove the punch from the surface of the bristle-holding body 6 by a distance equal to approximately L/2.

If the bristle-holding bodies 6 remained in a fixed position during the reascent of the punch 5 from said lower position 19 to said upper position 20, as occurs in apparatuses known from the prior art, the group of bristles S would be extracted from the punch 5 only owing to the stroke C of the punch between said lower position 19 and said upper position 18. The maximum length of the usable bristles S would thus be the same as approximately twice the stroke of the punch 5.

Owing to the movement of the bristle-holding bodies 6 in said direction, in a direction opposite the reascent movement of the punch 5 and simultaneously with said reascent movement, provided in the apparatus 1 according to the invention, it is possible to free the maximum length of the bristles S that are usable from the length of the stroke C of the punch 5 and to use bristles that are much longer than twice the stroke C of the punch 5, said maximum length being now determined by the sum of the length of the stroke C of the punch and of the movement C of the bristle-holding bodies 6 between said first position 20 and said second position 21. This makes the apparatus according to the invention much more versatile than the known apparatuses of the prior art. The movement C is adjustable in function of the length of the bristles S to be inserted into the bristle-holding bodies 6.

In Figures 4, 5 and 6 there is illustrated a second embodiment of an apparatus 101 according to the invention. The apparatus 101 comprises a turret 102, that is rotatable around a vertical axis A, on which supporting elements 106 are arranged for bristle-holding bodies 107 of brushes, or brooms. The apparatus 101 further comprises a drilling station 111, on which drilling tools 112 are arranged that are completely similar to the drilling tools 4 of the apparatus 1 illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 , and a punching station 103, comprising a frame element 104, on which a plurality of punches 105 is mounted that are movable in a horizontal direction X, i.e. perpendicular to said axis A. The frame element 104 is also movable in said direction X, along sliding guides 108 and 109 that are part of the frame 110 of the apparatus 101. The frame element 104 is slide along the guides 108 and 109 by driving means 113. The apparatus 101 operates as follows: the bristle-holding bodies 107 are arranged on the supporting elements 106 of the turret 102. The turret rotates to take the bristle- holding bodies 107 opposite the drilling station, where the drilling tools make in the bodies 107 a series of holes, each of which is intended to receive a group of bristles S. Upon completion of the drilling operation, the turret 102 rotates further to take the drilled bristle-holding bodies 107 opposite the punching station 103, in which the punches 105 insert the groups of bristles S into the holes of the bristle-holding bodies 107. Similarly to the punches 5 of the apparatus 1 illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 , the punches 105 are movable in said direction X perpendicular to the rotation axis A of the turret 102, between a first retracted position, in which they receive the respective group of bristles S to be inserted, and a second extended position, in which they come into contact with the surface of a respective bristle-holding body 107 to insert the group of bristles S into a hole of said bristle-holding body 107. After the bristle-holding unit has been inserted, the punches 105 move form the extended position to the retracted position and simultaneously the frame element 104 on which the punches 105 are mounted moves in said direction X, away from the turret 102 to enable the group of bristles S to be extracted from the respective punch 105.

As in the case of the apparatus 1 disclosed in Figures 1 to 3, the maximum length of the bristles S that can be used does not depend only on the stroke of the punches 105, as in the apparatuses known from the prior art, but also on the sum of the stroke of the punches 105 and on the movement of the frame element 103 along the sliding guides 108 and 109. This makes it possible to increase considerably the maximum length of the usable bristles S, with clear advantages for the flexibility of use of the apparatus 101.

Alternatively, rather than making the frame element 104 movable on which the punches 105 are mounted, it is possible to make the supporting elements 106 of the bristle-holding bodies 107 movable in a direction that is perpendicular to the rotation axis A of the turret 102. In this manner, when the punches 105, after a group of bristles S has been inserted into a bristle-holding body 107, move from said extended position to said retracted position, the supporting elements 106 can be moved along said direction X, in a direction opposite the punches 105. In this case the maximum length of the usable bristles S will depend on the sum of the stroke of the punches 105 between said extended position and said retracted position and on the movement of the supporting elements 106 in said direction X. In the practical embodiment, the materials, dimensions, and constructional details may be different from those indicated but be technically equivalent thereto without thereby falling outside the scope of the present invention, as defined by the claims.