The present invention relates to a barrel finishing device.

Nowadays it is known, for example in the field of processing components for eyeglasses, to use the barrel finishing technique, which is used to obtain the mechanical removal of residues of substrate, in particular burrs, caused by processing such as molding and melting.

Barrel finishing is particularly suitable for giving a surface finish to a a wide range of pieces, usually pieces that are small in size.

For processing metallic components, barrel finishing is used for example for burnishing, cleaning, opacifying, deburring, decrusting, removing rust, polishing, buffing, preparing pieces for further finishing or hardening their surface, and for deburring ingates, air vents and risers of die-castings.

The barrel finishing occurs via the rolling and impact of the pieces in a barrel (also called a tumbler) that usually also contains contoured abrasive material which speeds up the operation.

It is therefore known to use tumblers that are constituted by internally hollow containers that have an opening on the lateral surface which is adapted to allow the insertion both of the abrasive material and of the items to be processed.

Such container is usually constituted by a cylinder, arranged horizontally, which is pivoted at its ends to rotating supports which are rotated by way of adapted motors, optionally using belts or chains.

The turning of the tumbler, which already contains a suitable quantity of abrasive, entails the lifting and rolling of the abrasive which thus interacts with the metallic components.

Such known art however suffers many drawbacks of which the principal drawback is constituted by the time necessary in order to obtain an optimal processing of pieces, and this adds to the overall cost of each individual piece. Also known are FR1344181, US2809473, AT376388, GB2237524 and WO 2010/003288.

FR1344181 discloses a solution for obtaining barrel finishing by way of a device that obtains a vibration movement through the use of a C-shaped hollow cylindrical jaw 21, insertable axially on a shaft and provided with a flat front surface on which a disk 22 is placed externally, such disk being eccentrically perforated with respect to the jaw 21.

In such solution it is noted that the disk 22 can be rotated with respect to the jaw 21, thus changing the eccentricity of the mass of the disk 22, it being necessary to act on radial screws which are arranged not according to angles that are mutually 120° apart, and such approach, in addition to requiring time, appears to allow a maximum of only three different arrangements between the jaw and the disk, but only if only one radial screw is used for locking the disk 22 and the jaw 21 , thus making it impossible to have a small variation of the eccentricity, and also the connection between the disk 22 and the jaw 21 is not secure.

Such solution in any case exhibits incongruities on the positioning of the disk 22 with respect to the jaw 21 and on the positioning of the screws, which do not make clear the correlations that can be achieved between the various components, thus contributing to making the use of the technical solution disclosed unclear.

Such solution is further structurally complex in that the presence of devices for locking the jaw 21 and the disk 22, positioned externally to the disk 22, requires the removal of such means in order to gain access to the disk 22 proper.

In fact in such solution the eccentric mass 30 is arranged between the pulley 29 and the head of the container 23, thus also making an operation on the eccentric mass 30 complex, because the disassembly of various components is required.

GB2237524 on the other hand relates to a device that relates specifically to the sectors of sieving and grinding, which are deemed not to be comparable with the topics dealt with by the present application which relates to the specific sector of barrel finishing.

The principal aim of the present application is therefore to resolve the above mentioned technical problems, eliminating the drawbacks in the cited known art and hence providing a device that makes it possible to rapidly and optimally carry out the barrel finishing of the components inserted therein.

Within the above aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device for barrel finishing components, metallic or made of plastic material or of other material, which makes it possible to achieve the optimal processing of the components in reduced times.

Another object is to provide a device that is structurally simple and low cost and can be made with the usual conventional plants.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a barrel finishing device comprising a container for abrasive material and for components to be processed, characterized in that a first pivoting shaft is associated axially and horizontally with said container and interacts at its ends with adjustable means for centrifugal unbalancing, each of said means being constituted by a bushing on the lateral surface of which a mass is radially associated and rotates together with each of said bushings said means being associated, with the interposition of first vibration-damping elastic couplings, with first motors, which are supported, by way of second vibration-damping elastic feet or couplings, on a frame, said container being rotated by a second motor arranged above said container.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the detailed description of a particular, but not exclusive, embodiment, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a first perspective view of a device according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a second perspective view of the device according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the device according to the invention taken along a plane passing through the first and the second shaft;

Figure 4 shows a detail of Figures 1 , 2 and 3 ;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the first motors;

Figure 6 is a partially cross-sectional perspective view of the adjustable means for centrifugal unbalancing;

Figure 7 shows one of such means.

In the embodiments illustrated, individual characteristics shown in relation to specific examples may in reality be interchanged with other, different characteristics, existing in other embodiments.

Moreover, it should be noted that anything found to be already known during the patenting process is understood not to be claimed and to be the subject of a disclaimer.

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 designates a barrel finishing device which comprises a container, or barrel, 2, for example having a polygonal shape in cross-section, preferably, but not exclusively, hexagonal.

The container 2 is provided internally with a compartment 3 which is accessible by way of at least one opening 4 defined on the lateral surface 5 thereof.

Inside the compartment it is possible to arrange abrasive material for components to be processed, such as for example components for eyeglasses such as small metal products, or wood, carbon fiber and, in general, plastic materials.

A first pivoting shaft 7a, 7b is keyed axially and horizontally to the container, by way of an adapted first flange 6a, 6b, and interacts at its ends with adjustable means 8a, 8b for centrifugal unbalancing.

Each of the means 8a, 8b is constituted by an axially hollow bushing 9a, 9b, each of which is arranged coaxially to the first pivoting shaft 7a, 7b with the interposition of adapted bearings 10a, 10b.

A mass 12a, 12b is radially associated on the lateral surface 11 of each of the bushings 9a, 9b, and rotates together with each one of the bushings 9a, 9b.

The masses 12a, 12b have the desired shape structure and weight and are associated at a desired point of the lateral surfaces 11 of each of the bushings 9a, 9b.

First vibration-damping elastic couplings 14 are associated at right angles with the annular free ends 13a, 13b of the bushings 9a, 9b that are directed away from the container 2, and they are in turn associated with the head 15a, 15b of a T-shaped bush 16a, 16b, the stem 17a, 17b of which is keyed to a second shaft 18a, 18b of first motors 19a, 19b which are supported, by way of second vibration-damping elastic feet or couplings 20, on a plate 21 connected to a supporting frame 22.

The frame 22 is composed of a pair of substantially C-shaped lateral posts 23a, 23b which are mutually connected, at an upper wing 24a, 24b thereof, by a crossmember 25 arranged above the container 2.

The container or barrel 2 is rotated by a second motor 26 arranged above the crossmember 25, preferably at the centerline thereof

Motion is transmitted by way of an adapted gearmotor 27 to a pair of third shafts 28a, 28b which are arranged parallel to the underlying crossmember 25 and are coupled, by way of third vibration-damping elastic couplings 29a, 29b, to a pair of fourth shafts or axle shafts 30a, 30b which are pivoted to a pair of bushings 31a, 31b which are integral with the crossmember 25 and to the free end of which a pulley or pinion 32a, 32b is keyed which protrudes above and at the same plane as the first flange 6a, A connecting element such as a chain or belt 33 a, 33b is present between the pulley 32a, 32b and the first flange 6a, 6b and interacts with adapted pairs of tensioning elements 34a, 34b, which protrude and are pivoted at the upper wing 24a, 24b of the lateral posts 23a, 23b which constitute the frame 22.

Operation of the device according to the invention is as follows.

The second motor 26 turns the container 2, while the first motors 19a, 19b, through the first vibration-damping elastic couplings 14, rotate the bushings 9a, 9b.

The bushings 9a, 9b, thanks to the presence of the mass 12a, 12b, generate a vibrating effect, such effect being adjustable by using the mass

12a, 12b of the desired weight.

The means 8a, 8b thus generate a dynamic imbalance that creates vibrations which are transmitted to the container or barrel 2, individually or in addition to a rotation that can be imparted thereto by the second motor

26, thus increasing the abrasive effect of the material.

It is possible to achieve, in a known manner, an adjustment of the turning torque and therefore the speed applied to the container 2 and/or the vibration that can be imparted thereto, so as to optimize the applicable power, the abrasion intensity, the vibration frequency, and the rotation RPM as a function of the type of the materials to be processed and of the friction material as a function of the processing required.

Thus it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects, a device having been obtained in which there is a composite effect of a vibration in addition to or as an alternative to the rotation applied to the barrel or container 2, which make it possible to reduce processing times and improve the quality of the end product.

This makes it possible to reduce the overall cost of each individual product.

Furthermore it has been observed that the device 1 is structurally simple thanks to the use of the eccentric masses 12a, 12b, each of which is composed of a single component, easily accessible, which can have the desired shape structure and therefore weight; furthermore, it can be positionable differently on the lateral surface 11 of the respective bushing 9a, 9b.

In fact the presence/arrangement of the eccentric masses 12a, 12b of the desired weight and size, each of which is individually associated at a selected point of each bushing 9a, 9b and therefore with each means 8a, 8b, makes it possible for the latter items to determine, with continuity, a desired degree of eccentricity and to generate a desired dynamic imbalance that thus creates adjustable vibrations which are transmitted to the container 2, thus increasing the abrasive effect on the material.

The invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.

Obviously the materials used as well as the dimensions of the individual components of the invention may be more relevant according to specific requirements.

The characteristics indicated above as advantageous, convenient or the like, may also be missing or be substituted by equivalent characteristics.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. MI2014A001831

(102014902303815) from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.