| JP53018075 | CUTTING DEVICE |
| JP2008307898 | PROTECTION DEVICE FOR WIRE SAW APPARATUS |
| JP3539773 | WIRE SAW |
CORSINI, GIUSEPPE (Via San Nicolo' 66, Fontia Di Carrara, I-54033, IT)
CLAIMS
1. A cutting machine for cutting stones, rock, stone materials or the like and particularly for cutting up stone blocks or the like, in which machine cutting is performed by a diamond wire (2) , comprising a plurality of diamond elements , known as beads , which are threaded onto a support rope and held at predetermined spacings all along the wire, which wire is returned around one or more pulleys, at least one of which is a drive pulley, at least one wire entry (13) and exit pulley (14) being provided and the at least one or more entry and/or exit pulleys lie on the same plane coinciding with the cutting plane of the diamond wire (2) characterized in that a suitable buffer (1) is provided in said cutting machine for taking up and releasing predetermined lengths of wire (2) thereby shortening and lengthening the diamond wire loop between said entry and exit pulleys (13) and (14) , which loop is designed to cooperate with the block for cutting into and across it, wherefore said machine is stationary relative to the blocks while the latter are being cut and said wire loop progressively cuts across the block along the cutting plane as it is shortened. 2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that the buffer (1) is composed of at least two pulleys, known as buffer pulleys (3), one of which pulleys (3) is movable/displaceable, whereby said pulleys (3) may be moved toward and away from each other, and said relative displacement of the buffer pulleys (3) occurs in such a direction as to cause the diamond wire (2) to move forward across the stone block, in the forward cutting direction, and hence to cause said wire to be taken up during cutting.
3. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that said machine is movable relative to the position of the blocks to be cut.
4. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that the whole machine and/or the buffer (1) for taking up/releasing the diamond wire (2) and/or the entry and exit pulleys and/or the drive pulley and/or the motor are contained in a suitable protection chamber (6) to ensure operator safety in case of accidental failure of the diamond wire (2) during operation and consequent projection of the beads fitted on the wire in any direction. 5. A machine as claimed in claim 4 , characterized in that the protection chamber (6) is composed of four peripheral walls (106) and a cover (206) of suitable material, the front peripheral wall (306) of the protection chamber (6) , i.e. the wall of said chamber (6) that faces the stone block to be cut during processing, has two suitable holes (7) and (8) , one for entry and the other for exit of the diamond wire (2) , which holes are in such relative axial positions that the axes of both holes lie on the cutting plane defined by the diamond wire (2) .
6. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base (10) of the machine that supports both the buffer (3) , i.e. the assembly of buffer pulleys (3) comprising the movable and fixed pulleys and the drive pulley/s, and the buffer protection cover (6) is pivotable about an axis perpendicular to the base (10) , thereby allowing the whole machine to adjust its tilt angle, i.e. the inclination of the cutting plane of the diamond wire (2) relative to the walls of the block to be cut.
7. A machine as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the base (10) that supports the buffer (1) of the machine and the protection cover (6) therefor is mounted in pivotal relationship about a vertical axis on a stationary bearing support (11) using suitable means (12) , such as pivots or the like.
8. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least the entry and exit pulleys (13) and (14) can be tilted about a horizontal axis and/or parallel to the base
(10) of the machine, whereby the latter can not only cut up blocks along a vertical cutting plane, but also along a horizontal cutting plane, and can also cut up blocks in which the cutting plane can have any degree of tilt between said two vertical and horizontal limit positions .
9. A machine as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the buffer (1) can be also tilted about an axis parallel to the base (10) of the machine, according to the tilt of the entry and exit pulleys (12) and (14) .
10. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that the motor and the drive pulley and/or the entry and exit pulley/s and/or the buffer pulley/s can be tilted either separately or together, so that they can be all aligned on the same diamond wire sliding plane, which coincides with the cutting plane and which plane can take a vertical or horizontal position or any intermediate position between the vertical and horizontal positions either stepwise or continuously.
11. A machine as claimed in one or more of claims, characterized in that the front wall (306) of the protection chamber (6) has two or more entry and exit holes (7) and (8) formed therein for the diamond wire
(2) , for said holes to be adaptable to the tilt and/or displaceable according to said tilt of the entry and exit pulleys (13) and (14) and/or the cutting plane.
12. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that a part of at least one of the protection walls (106) of the protection chamber (6) is formed from a transparent material .
13. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the protection chamber (6) is equipped with an internal camera. 14. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that the speed of displacement of the movable buffer pulleys (3) is adapted to the diamond wire forward motion speed and/or the cutting wire sliding speed along the cutting plane in the material to be cut, so that the operating branch/loop of the diamond wire (2) operates on the material to be cut with an adequate operating contact pressure, and means being therefore provided for suitably monitoring and controlling for operably operating on the buffer pulleys and/or the drive pulley and consequently on the diamond wire (2) .
15. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that the controls are placed outside the protection chamber (6) and such controls can be also provided in remote locations , suitable control desks being provided, directly connected to the buffer and to the remaining components of the machine by cable or by radio waves .
16. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that the portion of diamond wire (2) extending from the protection chamber
(6) to the block is contained in suitable protection conduits (15) , wherewith the protection chamber is equipped, to prevent the diamond wire (2) from being freely exposed to the outside environment, so that, in case of accidental failure of the wire, the beads will not be projected sideways from the cutting plane. 17. A machine as claimed in claim 16, characterized in that said conduits (15) for containing the diamond wire (2) are tubular extensions of the diamond wire entry and exit holes , which extend outside the wall of the protection chamber (6) that faces towards the workpiece to be cut, and has the entry and exit holes formed therein.
18. A machine as claimed in claim 16, characterized in that said conduits (15) for containing the diamond wire (2) can be tilted according to the tilt of the portion of diamond wire (2) coming into and out of the protection chamber (6) and/or the branches of the portion of diamond wire coming into and out of the protection chamber (6) .
19. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that the conduits
(15) for protecting the diamond wire (2) are telescopic, extendable or the like, thereby allowing adjustment of the distance of the installed machine from the position of the block to be cut and extend from the wall of the protection chamber (6) facing towards the workpiece to be cut to the facing wall of said workpiece to be cut.
20. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that a suitable winding reel (16) is provided at the top of the protection chamber for a diamond wire protection tape
(17) to be wound thereon, which tape is unwound and placed on the slot of the block generated by the cutting wire (2) , so that, upon accidental failure of the wire, the diamond beads will by no way be projected in any direction.
21. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that three buffer pulleys are provided, including two movable pulleys and one preferably stationary pulley, which three pulleys also constitute the drive pulley that is mounted to the shaft of a drive motor (113) and the diamond wire entry and exit pulleys .
22. A machine as claimed in claim 21, characterized in that the three pulleys are all mounted to a common frame, which also has the motor (113) fixed thereto, and the frame pivots about a common horizontal axis .
23. A machine as claimed in claim 21 or 22, characterized in that the frame has the drive pulley in an intermediate position, i.e. at an intermediate level when it is oriented according a vertical cutting plane, whereas the diamond wire exit and entry pulleys are substantially symmetrical with respect to such drive pulley, but not necessarily at a level above or below it, said two entry and exit pulleys being arranged on diametrically opposite sides and at such distances as to be non-tangent to the drive pulley when they take a relative position in which all the axes of the three pulleys are aligned along the same line.
24. A machine as claimed in one or more of claims 21 to 23, characterized in that the two entry and exit pulleys having the function of movable buffer pulleys are mounted to a common slide which carries them in a cantilevered fashion to a position diametrically opposite to the transverse direction of the longitudinal axis of an intermediate guide of said common slide, said sliding motion being directed transverse and particularly perpendicular to the sliding direction and/or the longitudinal axis of the guide.
25. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims 21 to 23, characterized in that each buffer pulley is mounted to an independent slide.
26. A cutting machine for cutting stones, rock, stone materials or the like and particularly for cutting up stone blocks or the like, in which machine cutting is performed by an endless diamond wire (2) , comprising a plurality of diamond elements , known as beads, which are threaded onto a support rope and held at predetermined spacings all along the wire, which wire is returned around one or more pulleys, at least one of which is a drive pulley, and slides around and against the material of a workpiece to be cut along a predetermined cutting plane containing said diamond wire, characterized in that it comprises sensors for detecting the dimensions of the cutting elements and/or the spacer elements fitted as beads on the rope wherewith they form the diamond wire, control means being provided which store threshold values of said dimensional measurements , which control means compare the stored threshold dimensional values and the measured dimensional values and trigger alarm or warning means and/or means for stopping the sliding motion of the diamond wire, based on the result of such comparison.
27. A machine as claimed in claim 26, characterized in that dimensional measurements are performed cyclically, the control means having means for determining dimensional changes in the cutting elements and/or spacer elements per unit of time, and hence the wear of said elements per unit of time, reference values for said dimensional changes per unit of time being stored in said control unit, said control unit being arranged to perform, in addition to or instead of the comparison of absolute dimensional values , the comparison of the measured values of dimensional change per unit of time with the reference values, said control unit triggering alarm and/or warning means and/or means for stopping the diamond wire sliding motion, only or also based on the result of the comparison of the measured and reference values for dimensional changes per unit of time. 28. A machine as claimed in claim 26 or 27, characterized in that the sensors for measuring the dimensions of the cutting elements and/or the spacer elements of the diamond wire perform their measurements by contactless means, of the optical and/or electromagnetic and/or ultrasonic type or the like.
29. A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims , characterized in that it comprises sensors for detecting the sliding speed of the wire and/or the forward motion speed of the wire along the cutting plane and/or the displacement speed of the buffer pulley/s and/or sensors for measuring the tension of the diamond wire, which sensors are connected to a control unit in which a logical control program is stored and is executable to regulate one or more of the above speed or tension values based on preset rules of said logical control program.
30. A machine as claimed in one or more of claims 26 to 30, characterized in that it includes the features as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 25.
31. A diamond wire cutting method, wherein an endless diamond wire is driven to slide in a predetermined section plane of a workpiece to be cut along said section plane, a pulling force being applied for translating the diamond wire loop that surrounds the workpiece to be cut and extends in the cutting plane, said translation being obtained by shortening the diamond wire along said diamond wire loop that surrounds the workpiece to be cut.
32. A method as claimed in claim 31 , characterized in that at least the diamond wire shortening speed along said loop that surrounds the workpiece to be cut is controlled as a function of at least the tension of the diamond wire and/or possibly also the sliding speed of the diamond wire .
33. A diamond wire cutting method, wherein an endless diamond wire is driven to slide in a predetermined section plane of a workpiece to be cut along said section plane, a pulling force being applied for translating the diamond wire loop that surrounds the workpiece to be cut and extends in the cutting plane, characterized in that it includes:
- measurement of the dimensions of the cutting elements and/or the spacer elements that form the diamond wire; comparison of said dimensional measurement values with reference values that provide limit values ; - generation of alarm or warning signals and/or stop of the sliding motion of the diamond wire and/or its motion towards shortening of the diamond wire, based on the result of the above comparison. 34. A method as claimed in claim 33, characterized in that in addition to or instead of the above, a dimensional change per unit of time is determined, and a reference value for said dimensional change per unit of time is defined, the above steps being carried out using said values of dimensional change per unit of time. |
Diamond-wire cutting apparatus
The present invention relates to a diamond-wire cutting apparatus, i.e. a cutting machine for cutting stones, rock, stone materials or the like and particularly for cutting up stone blocks or the like, in which machine cutting is performed by a diamond wire, comprising a plurality of diamond elements, known as beads , threaded onto a support rope and held at predetermined spacings all along the wire, which wire is returned around one or more pulleys, at least one whereof is a drive pulley, at least one wire entry and exit pulley being provided and the at least one or more entry and/or exit pulleys lie on the same plane coinciding with the cutting plane of the diamond wire.
Machines of the above type are well known and widely used in the art. While these apparatuses satisfactorily serve their function, they still suffer from certain drawbacks .
Currently available machines for quarrying or squaring stone blocks using diamond wires generally comprise a drive unit with a drive pulley on a special track, which allows said drive block to horizontally slide therealong. The drive unit imparts motion to the diamond wire in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the wire, while allowing it to cut into the block, after being properly arranged thereon, whereas the horizontal sliding motion of the whole drive unit causes the diamond wire to be driven along the cutting plane and allows the diamond wire to cut into and across the stone block in the direction of displacement/feed of the drive unit along the track.
Since the blocks to be quarried or squared generally have a considerable size, with a length reaching ten meters and more, it can be easily understood that currently available machines require drive unit sliding tracks having a length of at least about twelve meters, for large block cutting.
Thus, it will be easily understood that these machines have large space requirements , especially in quarries, and create installation and operation problems , because tracks shall be obviously oriented as horizontally as possible, without considering the difficulties associated with the transportation of these machines in quarries .
Furthermore, currently used diamond-wire machines have an additional drawback concerning the safety of the operators of these machines . These machines are so constructed that the diamond wire is exposed to the environment, no suitable confinement means therefor being provided either on the drive unit, or along the path between said drive unit and the stone block to be cut. In fact, it would be quite difficult to provide an adequate confinement arrangement for the wire from the machine to the block to be cut, because this moving machine would require the confinement arrangement or means to be movable and particularly, in this case, extensible as the drive unit moves forward on the track, so that no section of the belt is left exposed to the environment.
The need of providing a means for confinement of the diamond wire is associated with the safety of the operators of these machines , because the diamond wire may suddenly break during operation and cause the diamond beads of the wire to be thrown in any
direction. These beads have gained kinetic energy during the cutting operation, and as they are suddenly released from their support rope upon breaking of the wire, they can have the effect of projectiles and be a hazard for machine users in any position relative to the machine within a considerable range, of the order of several meters .
Therefore, it can be easily understood that an arrangement for protecting these machines is required. The only protection used heretofore is a suitable protection tape wound onto a suitable reel, so that such tape covers the diamond wire loop used for block cutting. Nevertheless such tape provides no protection of the operators alongside the machine. The object of the present invention is to provide a diamond-wire cutting machine for cutting stones, rock, stone materials and the like and particularly for cutting up stone blocks or the like which, using simple and inexpensive arrangements , provides effective protection of the personnel in case of rupture of the diamond wire or other accidents .
The invention fulfils the above objects by providing a cutting machine for cutting stones, rock, stone materials or the like and particularly for cutting up stone blocks or the like, in which machine cutting is performed by a diamond wire, comprising a plurality of diamond elements , known as beads , threaded onto a support rope and held at predetermined spacings all along the wire, which wire is returned around one or more pulleys, at least one whereof is a drive pulley, at least one wire entry and exit pulley being provided and the at least one or more entry and/or exit pulleys lie on the same plane coinciding with the
cutting plane of the diamond wire and a suitable buffer is provided in said cutting machine for taking up and releasing predetermined lengths of wire thereby shortening and lengthening the diamond wire loop between said entry and exit pulleys , which loop is designed to cooperate with the block for cutting into and across it, wherefore said machine is stationary relative to the blocks while the latter are being cut and said wire loop progressively cuts across the block along the cutting plane as it is shortened.
The buffer may be formed in any manner and provided upstream or downstream from the drive pulley or, as better seen hereafter, the drive pulley may be one of the pulleys that form the buffer. According to a preferred embodiment, the buffer of the cutting machine is composed of at least two pulleys , known as buffer pulleys , one of which is stationary, i.e. pivotable about an axis having a fixed position and the other is movable, i.e. displaceable in a predetermined direction relative to the former to change the mutual distance between the buffer pulleys and cause the diamond wire loop between said pulleys to be lengthened and shortened, thereby lengthening or shortening, respectively, the diamond wire loop between the entry and exit pulleys, i.e. the block cutting wire loop. Obviously, both pulleys may be movable and the buffer may be also composed of three, four or more pulleys, based on the admitted sizes and travels of mutual displacement of the pulleys to obtain predetermined lengthening and/or shortening.
Advantageously, the buffer pulleys lie on the same plane, which plane is coincident with the plane on which the entry and exit pulleys lie, which plane is in
turn coincident with the cutting plane of the diamond wire.
In other words, since at least one of the buffer pulleys is movable in the plane that contains all of these pulleys, the latter can be mutually moved toward and away from each other and this relative motion between the buffer pulleys changes their mutual distance. The diamond wire is wound onto the buffer pulleys wherefore, as these buffer pulleys are moved toward and away from each other, the wire is released and taken up respectively. The buffer of the machine of the present invention, allows the machine to shorten or lengthen the diamond wire loop between said entry and exit pulleys, i.e. the loop that is designed to cooperate with the block for cutting into and across it, wherefore said machine is stationary relative to the blocks while the latter are being cut and, unlike similar prior art machines , there is no need for displacement of the whole machine to take up the wire, the wire being taken up by said buffer.
Still according to a preferred embodiment that minimizes the number of pulleys and allows effective variation of the length of the diamond wire in the external loop operating on the workpiece to be cut, the machine has a drive pulley fitted onto a motor shaft that is stationary, i.e. only pivotable, and a pair of pulleys, i.e. an entry pulley and an exit pulley respectively, which entry and exit pulleys are spaced on diametrically opposite sides of the drive pulley and are displaceable together or independently of each other, preferably transverse to the mutual spacing direction, relative to the drive pulley, such pulleys being mounted to separate slides or to a common slide
that slides along a guide, and the drive pulley and the entry and exit pulleys also acting as buffer pulleys .
Advantageously, since the machine of the present invention is stationary while the blocks are being cut, it can be formed of a definitely smaller size than currently available prior art machines , due to the lack of tracks, of the carriage and drives required for displacement of the drive unit. Thanks to the reduction of the size and weight of the machine of the present invention as compared with currently available machines , such machine may be easily displaceable and located even in quarries , in which narrow spaces may be available .
Advantageously, all the buffer pulleys, either fixed or movable, are mounted to a single support and the displacement of the movable buffer pulley/s is allowed because the support that receives all the buffer pulleys has suitable guides for the movable buffer pulleys , which allow displacement of said movable pulleys in appropriate directions only, to allow the wire to be thus released or taken up.
Obviously, the speed of displacement of the movable buffer pulley/s, and accordingly the diamond wire taking up operation during cutting, shall be adequate for said diamond wire to operate with a pressure that is sufficient to ensure forward cutting across the block, and not excessively high as to induce tension stresses in the diamond wire that might cause accidental failure thereof during operation, and a consequent dangerous projection of the diamond wire beads in any direction.
In response to the above requirements, suitable control and monitoring systems have been provided for
adjusting both the speed of rotation of the diamond wire, and the speed of displacement of the movable buffer pulleys .
The control systems may be composed of a controller that receives measurement signals from sensors , such as sensors that detect the tension of the diamond wire and the displacement speed of the buffer pulleys, i.e. signals for reduction or extension of the diamond wire and for forward motion of the diamond wire in the cutting plane, as well as for adjustment of the sliding speed of the diamond wire, which controller executes a logical program that determines the regulation of the sliding speed of the diamond wire and/or of the shortening and/or lengthening speed thereof, based on the comparison of said measuring values with preset or calculated values .
According to an advantageous characteristic, means may be associated with the machine of the invention for measuring the average consumption of the cutting elements , i.e. the beads , and the spacing elements of said beads on the metal rope . These means are sensors for detecting dimensional changes of said cutting elements and/or spacers that preferably operate in a contactless manner, such as optical, electromagnetic and/or ultrasonic means, or the like.
The dimensional measurement signals are compared with reference signals relating to limit measurements that can preset in the controller and, if the measurement signals exceed said reference signals and the sizes of the cutting elements and/or spacers exceed the limit values , then alarm means are automatically triggered and the sliding motion of the diamond wire is stopped for maintenance, if needed.
Advantageously, measurements are performed cyclically, whereby dimensional changes in the cutting elements and/or spacers per unit of time, i.e. the wear of said elements per unit of time can determined, such value being also compared with threshold values , an alarm condition being automatically indicated and/or the wire motion being automatically stopped when such values exceeds the preset threshold values . This condition may be provided as an alternative to the above, i.e. to the condition defined by the absolute dimensional measurement and/or possibly used in combination therewith.
Since the wire is subjected to vibration, there must be at least one point along the path that cooperates with an abutment, that can consist, in this case, of the entry and/or exit pulley, a buffer pulley and/or entry and exit holes formed in the corresponding wall of the protection chamber and/or the conduits associated to said ports. Advantageously, the machine of this invention has a suitable protection chamber for containing the whole buffer, i.e. the assembly of both fixed and movable buffer pulleys, the drive pulley/s and the support on which the assembly of these pulleys is mounted. This protection chamber is composed of at least four peripheral walls, an upper cover and possibly a lower cover. The front peripheral wall of the protection chamber, i.e. the wall of said chamber that faces the stone block to be cut during processing, has two suitable holes , one for entry and the other for exit of the diamond wire, with the wire entry and exit pulleys being located thereat. These wire entry and exit holes formed in the front peripheral wall of the
protection chamber are in such relative axial positions , that the centers of these holes lie on the same plane that contains the entry and exit pulleys .
A further feature of the machine of the invention is that the machine is pivotable about an axis perpendicular to the base that also supports the buffer and the protection chamber thereof. This feature allows the machine to operate on cutting planes at different tilt angles, for use of the machine, for instance, for stone block squaring without displacing the whole machine as required by prior art machines , but by simply setting the desired inclination of the tilt axis .
The machine of the present invention also provides the function of cutting up horizontal stone blocks, in addition to vertical ones , and of operating with tilted cutting planes, at intermediate angles of tilt between the horizontal and vertical orientations . This degree of freedom is provided by the possibility of tilting the entry and exit pulleys either clockwise or counterclockwise, thereby causing a corresponding tilt of the cutting plane of the diamond wire .
Advantageously, all the pulleys, i.e. the entry and exit pulleys , the whole buffer comprising all fixed or movable buffer pulleys, the drive pulley/s as well as the support of these pulleys, are allowed to be tilted either clockwise or counterclockwise, in response to the tilt of the predetermined cutting plane . For this purpose, all the above pulleys shall have to be mounted, preferably coplanarly, on a common tilting frame.
A further characteristic of the present machine is
that the diamond wire entry and exit holes formed in the front peripheral wall of the protection chamber are adaptable to the tilt of the entry and exit pulleys . This prevents the diamond wire from intercepting the solid surface of the front wall of the protection chamber .
According to a further characteristic of the present invention, the protection chamber has suitable containment conduits near the diamond wire entry and exit holes , which conduits are open at the two end sides , one of which is integral with the front wall of the protection wall in the proximity of the entry and exit hole. These containment conduits contain the diamond wire, namely the portion of the wire loop that extends from the entry and exit pulleys and/or the wall of the protection chamber that forms the diamond wire entry and exit wall to the front wall of the workpiece or block to be cut, i.e. to the wall facing toward said diamond wire entry and exit wall . These containment conduits provide further protection to the operator in case of accidental failure of the wire during use . For this reason, these conduits shall be properly sized for containment of the whole length of the wire portion that extends , as mentioned above , from the entry and exit pulleys and/or the entry and exit wall to the front wall of the block to be cut. In view of the above, these containment conduits may be extendable, e.g. telescopically or in any other manner, to adjust the position or distance of the machine relative to block as needed, while allowing the conduits to fully contain the free portion of diamond wire extending from the entry and exit pulleys and/or the wall of the protection chamber that forms the diamond wire entry
and exit wall to the front wall of the workpiece or block to be cut.
Advantageously, these conduits are also allowed to tilt in the plane that contains the cutting plane, to provide the possibility of adjusting the angle of introduction of the diamond wire in the entry and exit holes and/or the tilt of the incoming or outgoing portion of diamond wire , i.e. the branch that moves toward the workpiece to be cut and the branch that comes from the workpiece to be cut, which extends from the entry and exit pulleys and&or from the protection chamber wall that forms the entry and exit wall for the diamond will to the front wall of the workpiece or block to be cut. According to a further characteristic of the present invention, a part of at least one of the protection walls is formed from a transparent material, to allow the inside of the chamber, and hence the buffer of the machine, to be monitored even during operation. Also, one or more cameras are installed in the protection chamber for monitoring, during operation, parts of the machine that are not visible through the transparent parts of the peripheral wall/s or for simply monitoring the machine during operation from workstations remote from the machine. Machine controls are placed outside the protection chamber and suitable control desks are also provided for remotely controlling or operating the machine . Such remote controls may be directly connected to the machine unit by wires or remotely connected by means of radio waves or the like .
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the following
description of a few embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings , in which :
Fig. 1 shows the buffer of the machine, according to a particular technical solution of the present invention;
Figs . 2 and 3 show the totality of the machine components during operation
Figs . 4 and 5 are top views of the machine ; Fig. 6 is a front view of the buffer pulleys; Figs . 7, 8 show particular technical solutions of the present invention concerning the front wall of the protection chamber;
Fig. 9 is a three-dimensional view of a further technical solution for the buffer of the machine . Namely, Fig. 1 shows a particular technical solution concerning the buffer of the machine. As is shown, this technical solution uses three buffer pulleys 3 , lying all on the same plane , which coincides with the cutting plane of the diamond wire. These pulleys are mounted to a suitable support 4 having appropriate guides 5 for relative displacement of the movable buffer pulleys 3. In the technical solution of Fig. 1, three buffer pulleys 3 are employed, as is shown, all of which are movable in the directions allowed by the guides 5. Nonetheless, the present machine may include even more than three buffer pulleys and these pulleys need not be all movable, but some of them may be fixed. The only condition to be met is that, in response to mutual displacement of these buffer pulleys 3 toward and away from each other, the wire loop between the entry and exit pulleys, i.e. the wire loop designed to cooperate with the block, is released or shortened respectively.
Fig. 1 shows that, upon mutual displacement of the buffer pulleys , in this case away from each other in the direction of the arrows , the diamond wire extending from the entry and exit pulleys, not shown in Fig. 1, is shortened, as shown by the arrow.
Fig. 2 shows the totality of the machine components during operation, i.e. in a step of cooperation of the machine wire 2 with the stone block to be cut. Here, a buffer 1 like the one of Fig. 1, comprising the totality of the buffer pulleys , is contained in a suitable protection chamber 6. This protection chamber 6 is composed of four peripheral walls, including a rear wall 106, a front wall 306 and a cover 206. In the cross-sectional view of Fig. 2, the side walls of the protection chamber 6 are not visible.
In the particular technical solution of Fig. 2, the buffer pulleys 3 are coplanar with the entry and exit pulleys 13 and 14, which entry and exit pulleys 13 and 14 are located in the proximity of the front peripheral wall 306 of the chamber 6.
As shown, this wall 306 has suitable entry and exit holes 7 and 8 formed thereof for the diamond wire 2 and the entry and exit pulleys 13 and 14 are located in a such positions as to lead the diamond wire 2 substantially to the center of these entry and exit holes 7 and 8.
The outer face of the front peripheral wall 306 is equipped with suitable containment conduits 15, which are connected to the two entry and exit holes 7 and 8 , so that the diamond wire loop extending from the entry and exit pulleys 13 and 14 towards the block, is contained in said conduits, so that, in case of accidental failure of the diamond wire 2 during
operation, the beads will not be projected sideways from the machine, which projection of these beads might cause injuries to operators.
Thus , the whole diamond wire 2 is confined in the protection chamber 6, the containment conduits 15 and the block. For further protection of the wire loop designed for block cutting, a suitable winding reel 16 is provided near the cover 206 of the protection chamber 6 for a protection tape 17 to be wound thereon, which tape, as shown in Fig. 2, is unwound during operation onto the block so that the cut formed by the diamond wire 2 is subtended by such tape. Like currently used tapes, this tape 17 is about six hundred millimeters wide and made from suitable materials having adequate mechanical properties .
Fig. 2 further shows that the buffer 1 and the protection chamber 6 are held on a base 10, which base is connected to another base 11 using suitable means, such as pivots or the like, so that this base 10 is pivotally movable to allow the machine to adjust its tilt angle and cut up stone blocks at different angles relative to the walls of the block to be cut.
Fig. 3 is a view like of Fig. 2, showing a cutting step occurring later than the above Fig. 2. Here, the diamond wire 2 is shown to have moved forward deeper into the block than in Fig. 2, which forward motion is caused by the wire loop being taken up by moving the buffer pulleys 3 away from each other, with initial positions being indicated by dashed lines . Obviously, in both Figs. 2 and 3 the dimensions of the machine and the block are not shown in their actual proportions , the size of the machine being in fact considerably smaller than that of the stone block to be
cut.
Fig. 4 is a top view of the machine, which shows that the base 10 of the machine is adapted to pivot about an axis perpendicular to the base 10, to allow the machine to adjust its tilt angle. It shall be noted that the diamond wire 2 operates in variously inclined cutting planes, depending on the tilt of the base.
Fig. 5 shows another axonometric top view of a particular technical solution of the machine, in which the base 11, that is connected to the base 10 by suitable pivoting means, such as pivots or the like, is further located on two rails to prevent displacement of the whole machine. This figure is a view of the buffer pulleys 3 and the motor of the drive pulley, as well as the support 4 of these pulleys .
Fig. 6 is a front view of the buffer pulleys 3 mounted to the support 4. As shown in this Fig. 6, in a particular technical solution of the present invention, the whole buffer tilts either clockwise or counterclockwise to allow the machine to perform cutting in the vertical and horizontal directions and along any inclined plane between said limit positions .
Fig. 7 shows a particular technical solution for the front wall 306 of the chamber 6 to allow the machine to tilt the cutting plane thereby allowing to perform cutting in the horizontal direction and/or along inclined planes between the above two limit positions . According to the technical solution as shown in Fig. 7, the front wall 306 has two components, i.e. a circular component 1306 pivotable about the center axis of said front wall 306 and a stationary component 2306 complementary to the former, that acts as a frame. The component 1306 is pivotable to adapt to the tilt of
the entry and exit pulleys 14 and 15, and/or to adapt to the tilt of the buffer 1, if any.
Fig. 8 shows another technical solution for the front wall 306, in which several holes are provided to act as entry and exit holes for the diamond wire 2. These holes are arranged in diametrically opposed pairs , which act as entry and exit holes for the diamond wire 2 when cutting is performed with predetermined tilts. Obviously, a larger number of holes may be provided, to provide a wider range of inclined planes .
Other technical solutions may be advantageously provided, not shown, for adapting the entry and exit holes 7 , 8 of the diamond wire 2 to the tilt of the entry and exit pulleys 13 and 14.
Fig. 9 is a three-dimensional view of a further technical solution of the present machine, particularly providing a buffer with three buffer pulleys , including one fixed pulley 302 and two movable pulleys 301. It can be seen that the two movable pulleys 301 are mounted to a suitable support 4 and the guide 5 indirectly operates on both pulleys 301, because the common support 4 for the two movable pulleys 3901 slides along such guide. Such Fig. 9 also shows the drive unit operating on the fixed buffer pulley 302 , which also acts as the drive pulley of the machine.
Referring to the illustrated embodiments, and particularly as shown in Figures 5 and 9, according to the preferred, non limiting embodiment of the invention, three buffer pulleys are provided, including two movable pulleys and one preferably stationary pulley, which three pulleys also constitute the drive pulley that is mounted to the shaft of a drive motor
113 and the diamond wire entry and exit pulleys. Particularly, the three pulleys are all mounted to a common frame, which also has the motor 113 fixed thereto, and the frame pivots about a common horizontal axis designated by O. Furthermore, the frame has the drive pulley in an intermediate position, i.e. at an intermediate level when it is oriented according a vertical cutting plane, whereas the diamond wire exit and entry pulleys are substantially symmetrical with respect to such drive pulley, but not necessarily at a level above or below it. Said two entry and exit pulleys are arranged on diametrically opposite sides and at such distances as to be non-tangent to the drive pulley when they take a relative position in which all the axes of the three pulleys are aligned along the same line. Also, the two entry and exit pulleys having the function of movable buffer pulleys are mounted to a common slide which carries them in a cantilevered fashion to a position diametrically opposite to the transverse direction of the longitudinal axis of an intermediate guide of said common slide. The sliding motion is directed transverse and particularly perpendicular to the sliding direction and/or to the longitudinal axis of the guide. Otherwise, each buffer pulley may be mounted to an independent slide. Particularly, the guide is a sliding rail whose longitudinal axis is parallel to the sliding direction of the slides , and coincident with the axis of the motor shaft on which the drive pulley, which is stationary with respect to said sliding motion, is mounted.
Figure 5 further shows that the frame, with the assembly of all buffer, entry and exit pulleys and the
drive pulley and with the motor fitted thereon may also be translated transverse to the horizontal axis O of tilt of the cutting plane. This can be achieved by providing a further lower base plate having one or more pairs of guides 30 oriented in said direction of translation, for displacement on rollers, wheels, sliders or other similar means of the intermediate plate, here the plate 11 underlying the plate 10 that pivots about the vertical axis for tilting the cutting plane.