COWLING FOR LEATHER-SPLITTING MACHINES

D e s c r i p t i o n

The present invention relates to a cover or cowling for leather-splitting machines, as well as to a leather- splitting machine provided with said cover or cowling.

It is known that leather-splitting machines (currently referred to as "splitting machines") are used for sectioning/splitting hides or similar materials, so as to obtain semifinished products to be then sent to subsequent working departments (such as manufacture of shoe vamps, for example) .

Generally, a splitting machine has a work station with front access, in which the hide piece is moved close to or pushed towards a splitting station.

In the splitting station, the hide piece is submitted to sectioning so that it is divided into two laminar elements of lesser thickness; after this sectioning, the semifinished products are moved forward beyond the blade and are unloaded from the machine close to the rear edge of the machine itself.

The just described known art, while cheap and of simple construction, still has some drawbacks, mainly from an ergonomic point of view.

In fact, due to the great bulkiness of a splitting machine (based on a rather cumbersome mechanics, and usually also comprising a system for collection and separation ^' of the scraps coming from cutting of the pieces of material) , a great plan extension is involved

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as well as a great height from the ground; this adversely affects the comfort and control when hides are to be inserted into the front work station and above all the comfort and ease of access to the rear portion for unloading of the semifinished products.

In this respect, it is to be noted that usually splitting machines are employed by workers who load and unload the articles being worked manually; it is therefore apparent that for those operators who are thwarted from an ergonomic point of view (for instance, those who are not tall enough or have short arms) , working on these machines is very uncomfortable.

In addition, the big height and unfavourable conformation of the rear region of the splitting machines of known type does not allow the path of travel of the semifinished products to be conveniently controlled and these products can even fall to the ground or in any case accumulate in untidy heaps, which is dangerous for the final quality of the goods.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to conceive a cover or cowling for leather-splitting machines that can be used in different production fields (e.g. in the shoe sector, garment sector, leather sector, automotive sector, tanning sector and leather working sector) , as well as a splitting machine provided with this cover or cowling and capable of overcoming the just mentioned limits.

In particular, it is an aim of the invention to conceive a cowling for splitting machines that helps the operators in their work from an ergonomic point of view, in particular making unloading of the

semifinished products easier.

At the same time, it is an aim of the invention to conceive a cowling for splitting machines allowing regular and orderly emission of the semifinished products, preventing them from falling on the ground or being subjected to pleats or curling-up.

Yet another aim of the invention consists in providing a cowling for splitting machines that can be also mounted on already operative machines, giving the latter the above mentioned ergonomic advantages.

The foregoing and further aims are achieved by a cover or cowling for leather-splitting machines, as well as by a leather-splitting machine provided with said cover or cowling in accordance with the present invention, having the features recited in the appended claims and hereinafter illustrated in one embodiment thereof given by way of non-limiting example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figs. 1 and 2 show side views, on opposite sides, of a first embodiment of a splitting machine provided with a cover in accordance with the invention; - Fig. 3 is a top view of the machine seen in Fig. 1;

- fig. 4 is a rear view of the machine seen in Fig. 1;

- Figs. 5 and 6 show side views, on opposite sides, of a second embodiment of a splitting machine provided with a cover in accordance with the invention; - Fig. 7 is a top view of the machine seen in Fig. 5;

- Fig. 8 is a rear view of the machine seen in Fig. 5;

- Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the machine shown in Figs. 1 to 4; and

- Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the machine shown in Figs. 5 to 8.

With reference to the drawings, the cover for splitting machines in accordance with the invention is denoted with reference numeral 1 and comprises a given number of panels 2 at least partly connected to each other and adapted to be positioned close to respective functional units of a splitting machine M.

Advantageously, cover 1 further comprises an unloading surface 3 to be positioned close to a cutting station T of the splitting machine M and defining an inclined surface .

The presence of this inclined surface practically achieves a great ergonomic facilitation as it allows an easier extension of the arms of the operator assigned to unloading of the machine M who in turn can reach the semifinished products coming out of the cutting station T without occurrence of an excessive interference with the high rear edge of the machine itself.

At the same time, the inclined-surface conformation allows a more regular and uniform emission of the semifinished products from the cutting station T.

Conveniently, the unloading station 3 can be positioned at a rear portion of the splitting machine M, according to a geometric alignment explained in more detail in the following.

The unloading surface 3 can extend transversely over a width at least as large as that of the cutting station T of the splitting machine M, but, depending on current requirements, it can take up the whole lateral dimension of the rear portion of the machine M itself.

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From the geometric point of view, the unloading surface 3 can define a descending ramp ( (towards the rear of the machine M) having an angle included between 5° and 45° relative to the ground plane.

In accordance with another particular aspect of the present invention, panels 2 can comprise a front portion 4 to be positioned close to a fore portion of the splitting machine M and defining a curved surface the concavity of which preferably faces the splitting machine M; this front portion 4 can be provided with opening means so as to enable access to the inner members of the machine M for maintenance and/or repair.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a leather-splitting machine, comprising:

- a loading station C positioned in a fore portion of the machine itself;

- a cutting station T having at least one cutting blade and located adjacent to the loading station C; and

- an unloading station S positioned in a rear portion of the machine M.

With reference to the drawings, the loading station C, cutting station T and unloading station S sequentially define an operating direction D; in operation, the machine is therefore loaded along this operating direction D, so that the (incoming) pieces of material and the (outgoing) semifinished products move along this operating direction D.

Conveniently, the machine has a cowling or cover 1 in turn made up of a predetermined number of panels 2 (at least partly connected with each other) , and advantageously further comprises an unloading surface 3

to be positioned at the unloading station S.

Obviously, the unloading surface defines an inclined surface in accordance with the above description.

In accordance with the general layout of the machine M, the unloading surface 3 is aligned along the above mentioned operating direction D and is placed close to a cutting station T of the splitting machine M itself. At the same time, the unloading surface 3 is advantageously located in a rear portion of the splitting machine M.

Studying the technical details of the machine M in depth, it is possible to see that the above ^' mentioned "functional units" comprise:

- a central unit G disposed below the cutting station T and housing mechanical driving and/or adjusting and/or grinding means operatively active on the cutting station T;

- a first lateral unit I disposed on one side of the central unit G and housing scrap-collecting means for the scraps from the cutting station T;

- a second lateral unit II disposed on a second side, opposite to said first one, of the central unit G and housing electric and/or electronic feeding and/or control means operatively active on the central unit I and/or the cutting station T and/or the first lateral unit II; and finally - a third lateral unit III disposed on the first or on the second side relative to the central unit G and housing tensioning and/or lubricating means operatively interlocked with at least the cutting station T and/or the central unit G.

Conveniently, panels 2 can be adapted to cover the central unit G and/or the first lateral unit I and/or the second lateral unit II at least partly.

The invention enables achievement of important advantages .

First of all, it will be recognised that the particular construction architecture of the described cover (as hereinafter claimed) enables access to the machine by the operators to be greatly improved, offering an important facilitation for the operators' work (and allowing achievement of a better productivity) .

In addition, it will be appreciated that the controlled and regular discharge of the semifinished products through the inclined unloading surface not only allows better gathering of said products, but also promotes better control of the unevenness and/or the undesirable pleats that can be formed on the semifinished products themselves .

It is also to be pointed out ^" that the different possible sizes of the cover being the object of the invention make said cover also adaptable to already operative machines, possibly after replacement of the already installed panels.