Background Art It is known that such machines perform drying, or rather eliminate as much as possible the water that the hide still retains after accumulating it during the preceding tanning and treatment steps.

Machines of this type are substantially composed of a sturdy motorized conveyor roller, which is supported at its ends by two arms that are articulated to the frame of the machine so that it can be moved away from the structure of the machine in order to spread under it the hide to be dried and to retrieve it once it has been dried.

Hide retrieval is performed manually.

Two operators grip the hide laterally, extract it from the machine, which has been opened, and deposit it on a trolley or pallet arranged to the side of the machine.

This operation is not easy and in any case requires the presence of at least two people, particularly when processing large hides, which even after the setting-out or drying operation still contain water and are therefore heavy and slippery.

Disclosure of the Invention The aim of the present invention is to improve the operation of setting- out machines or of hide resetting and drying machines.

Within this aim, an object is to provide automatic unloading of the hide at the end of its treatment.

Another object is to reduce the personnel assigned to the machine.

Another object is to increase the safety of the machine by reducing the accessibility of the parts that can be dangerous for the operator.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a device for guiding and unloading automatically hides in resetting and drying machines, of the type that comprises a motorized conveyor roller, at least one hide presser roller, a tentering roller with slickers that acts on a supporting element, characterized in that it comprises a hide supporting belt, which wraps around said motorized conveyor roller over a wide arc, said supporting belt continuing downward in the front part of the resetting and drying machine and being guided in the lowermost part by a guiding roller arranged parallel to said supporting roller, a belt for collecting the hide when it is unloaded being provided below said guiding roller, guide rollers for the belt and means for separating the hide from said belt being further provided.

Brief description of the drawings Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred embodiment thereof, given by way of non-limitative example and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic side view of the elements of the machine in the open position; Figure 2 is a schematic partial view of the machine, showing in the open position the support of the hide for starting the drying process; Figure 3 is a side view of the machine in the closed position, shown without the hide; Figure 4 is a detail view of the closed machine, with the hide inserted in the active position; Figure 5 is a view of the step for the exit, unloading and collection of the hide performed by the device according to the invention.

Ways of carrying out the Invention With reference to the figures, a resetting and drying machine is shown schematically, and reference numeral 11 designates one of the two heads

thereof, which are connected one another by lower cross-members 12 and an upper cross-member 13 of the frame.

The machine comprises a motorized conveyor roller 14, two presser rollers, designated by the reference numerals 16 and 17 respectively, covered with sleeves of elastically yielding material, designated by the reference numerals 18 and 19 respectively.

The machine also has a tentering roller 20 provided peripherally with slickers 21, which acts, when the machine is closed, against a supporting roller 22 after interposing the hide, designated by the reference numeral 23.

The device according to the invention is composed of a belt 24 for supporting the hide 23, which wraps around the motorized conveyor roller 14 over a wide arc.

The belt 24 extends frontally in the machine to its lowermost part, where a guiding roller 25 is provided, the position of which is defined by guide rollers 26 and 27.

Under the supporting belt 24 there is an additional belt, designated by the reference numeral 28, for collecting and removing the hide 23.

In the machine there is a device for controlling the presence of hide, which actuates the reversal of the motion of the motorized roller 14 according to the provisions of PCT/EP01/10592 by this same Applicant.

In the lowermost part, where the supporting belt 24 is guided by the roller 25, there is a brush 30, which rotates in the opposite direction with respect to the guiding roller 25, for separating the hide.

The machine with the device according to the invention is open in a first step, the one shown in Figure 1, so as to allow, as shown in Figure 2, to rest the hide 23 to be processed on the motorized conveyor roller 14.

When the hide is positioned, the machine is closed and assumes the configuration of Figure 3, in which the machine and the device are shown without the presence of the hide.

When the hide is inserted, processing occurs as shown schematically in

Figure 4, where the hide is passed several times with periodic reversal of motion under the presser rollers 16 and 17 and between the tentering cylinder 20 and the motorized roller 14.

When the hide had reached the intended level of drying, the motorized conveyor roller 14, as shown in Figure 5, moves the supporting belt 24, which is made of PVC and to which the moist hide clings, so that the lowermost edge of the hide separates from the guiding roller 25 and is deposited on the collection belt 28, which in turn unloads it onto a trolley that can move below it and is not shown in the figures.

In order to facilitate the separation of the hide 23 and to prevent it from winding onto the guiding roller 25 owing to its adhesion to the supporting belt 24, there is a counter-rotating brush 30 that moves the hide away from the supporting belt 24 in its lowermost part, where it is guided by the roller 25.

From what has been described and illustrated, it is evident that the aim and intended objects have all been achieved, and that in particular a device has been provided that allows automatic unloading of the hide once the drying operation has been completed by the machine.

This allows to eliminate the manual operations provided during the removal of the hide from the machine, with a consequent considerable saving of assigned personnel.

The supporting belt made of plastics, particularly PVC, also allows to better spread the hide during insertion operations, preventing the formation thereon of creases or overlaps that might lead to a defective product.

Moreover, the exit of the hide from the machine occurs without requiring the operators to intervene and work, as occurs in conventional machines, when the elements of said machine are still moving.

This allows greater safety and greatly reduces the possibility of accidents.

Clearly, starting from the same inventive concept, other different types of material for the belt or arrangements of the guiding rollers and guide rollers

of said belt may be provided.

The materials and the dimensions may in any case be any according to requirements.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. PD2000A000282 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.