CAPOIA, Giuseppe (Via Francesco Baracca 76, Cimadolmo, I-31010, IT)
| CLAIMS 1. Machine for cutting and/or creasing a sheet (11) of relatively rigid material comprising movement means (17, 18) able to move said sheet (11) at least in a defined direction of advance, cutting and/or creasing means (16) movable in a direction substantially transverse to said first direction of advance, and able to carry out on said sheet (11) at least a first working of cutting and/or creasing, and a command and control unit (30), operatively connected to said cutting and/or creasing means (16), and able to selectively activate and/or move them according to a pre-loaded work program, characterized in that it comprises motion reversal means, kinematically connected to said movement means (17, 18), and means to rotate the sheet (11) by a desired angle before imparting to it a reverse motion, said command and control unit (30) being able to selectively activate and move said cutting and/or creasing means (16) according to the actual direction of advance determined by the reversal means, in order to carry out on said sheet (11) also a second working, subsequent to said first working, on the basis of said work program. 2. Machine as in claim 1, characterized in that the angle of rotation of the sheet (11) is advantageously around 90°. 3. Machine as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the desired angle of rotation of the sheet (11) is associated with a signal of motion reversal and execution of the command and control unit (30). 4. Machine as in claim 3, characterized in that the command and control unit (30) is able to selectively activate the motion reversal means according to the signal received. 5. Machine as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it comprises means to detect the position of the sheet (11) in the direction of advance, able to detect and transmit, at least at the end of the first working, a determinate signal relating to the position of the sheet (11) to the command and control unit (30). 6. Machine as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the motion reversal means are associated with a device to rotate the sheet (11), able to rotate said sheet (11) and feed it toward the cutting and/or creasing means (16) in the second direction of advance. 7. Machine as in claim 5, characterized in that the device to rotate the sheet (11) is an operator who executes the motion reversal. 8. Machine as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it comprises aligning means, coordinated with the command and control unit (30), for the correct positioning of the sheet (1 1). 9. Machine as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the movement means comprise a first pair of drawing rolls (17) and a second pair of drawing rolls (18) disposed respectively upstream and downstream of the cutting and/or creasing means (16). 10. Machine as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it comprises a printing unit (19) operatively connected to the command and control unit (30), said command and control unit (30) being able to selectively activate and move the printing unit (19) according to the actual direction of advance of the sheet (H). 11. Machine as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the sheet (11) to be cut and creased is positioned with the enhanced side facing upward and in that the cutting and/or creasing means (16) are positioned below the plane on which the sheet (11) is fed. 12. Machine as in claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the printing unit (19) is disposed above the plane on which the sheet (11) is fed. 13. Method for cutting and/or creasing a sheet (11) of relatively rigid material comprising a first feed step in which movement means (17, 18) move said sheet (11) toward cutting and/or creasing means (16) in a defined direction of advance, a second working step in which said cutting and/or creasing means (16), selectively activated and/or moved by a command and control unit (30) according to a pre-loaded work program, carry out a first process of cutting and/or creasing on said sheet (11), a third step of expelling the sheet (11) and a fourth working step in which a second cutting and/or creasing is carried out on said sheet (11), said method being able to be implemented with a printing step, characterized in that it comprises a motion reversal step in which motion reversal means, kinematically connected to said movement means (17, 18), reverse the direction of movement of said sheet (11) in said direction of advance and in which said command and control unit (30) selectively activates and moves said cutting and/or creasing means (16) according to the actual direction of advance determined by the reversal means in order to carry out said fourth working step, based on said work program, and a step to rotate the sheet (11), carried out downstream of the expulsion step and upstream of the motion reversal step, in which rotation means rotate the sheet (1 1) by a desired angle and activate the command and control unit (30). 14. Method as in claim 13, characterized in that it comprises a detection step, carried out at least at the end of the second step, in which means to detect the position of the sheet (11) detect and transmit a determinate signal relating to the position of the sheet (1 1) to the command and control unit (30). 15. Method as in claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the sheet (11) is made to advance with the enhanced face facing upward. 16. Method as in any claim from 13 to 15, characterized in that the cutting and/or creasing operations are carried out from below. 17. Method as in any claim from 13 to 16, characterized in that the printing operations are carried out from above. |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a machine for the working of relatively rigid material. In particular the present invention can be used in order to cut and/or crease paper, cardboard, plastic material or other, originally in the form of strips or sheets, in order to make containers. Here and in the following description and the claims, the term sheets is to mean generally both single pre-cut sheets and also sheets coming from rolls or strips.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the packing or packaging sector plants are known which are used to make containers by means of a plurality of workings on a packing material, for example a sheet of cardboard.
Known plants generally comprise a plurality of operating stations disposed in series, each provided with a support structure disposed substantially transverse to the direction of advance of the sheet, on which tools are mounted, for example cutting tools, creasing tools or other.
In this type of known plant, the sheets advance from a first operating station able to carry out a first process of cutting and/or creasing, to a second operating station able to carry out a second process of cutting and/or creasing. These known plants are not very suitable for small daily production as they are too big. Purpose of the present invention is to make a machine for cutting and/or creasing suitable for small production, which is less bulky, has working precision and is reasonably priced.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea.
In accordance with the above purpose, a machine for cutting and/or creasing a sheet of relatively rigid material comprises at least movement means able to move said sheet forward at least in a defined direction of advance. The machine according to the present invention also comprises cutting and/or creasing means movable in a direction substantially transverse to the first direction of advance, and able to carry out at least a first process of cutting and/or creasing of the sheet.
The machine is also provided with a command and control unit, operatively connected to the cutting and/or creasing means ,and able to selectively activate and/or move them according to a pre-loaded work program.
The machine according to the present invention can also be equipped with a printing unit.
According to a characteristic feature of the present invention, the machine comprises motion reversal means, kinematically connected to the movement means and means to rotate the sheet by a desired angle before imparting to it a reverse motion.
Moreover, according to a characteristic feature of the present invention the command and control unit is able to selectively activate and move the cutting and/or creasing means according to the actual direction of advance of the sheet, determined by the reversal means, in order to carry out on the sheet also a second process, subsequent to the first process, on the basis of the work program.
Advantageously the angle of rotation of the sheet is 90°.
The present invention allows to use only one machine to carry out successive processes on the sheet.
This possibility is particularly advantageous for small productions for which the purchase of two machines would be too costly.
A further advantage of the present invention is the reduction in bulk of the plant. According to a variant, the rotation of the sheet by the desired angle is associated with a signal of motion reversal and execution of the command and control unit.
It is also within the spirit of the present invention to provide that the command and control unit is able to selectively activate the motion reversal means according to the signal received.
According to a further variant, the positioning means comprise a rotation device, disposed downstream of the cutting and/or creasing means and able to rotate the sheet, for example by 90°, and feed it toward the cutting and/or creasing means in the second direction of advance.
In this way it is possible to use only one machine to carry out successive processes in different directions, for example in directions substantially perpendicular with respect to each other, in a completely automated manner, in which the intervention of the operator is needed only for programming and managing the command and control unit.
According to another variant the machine comprises a printing unit, operatively connected to the command and control unit and selectively moved by it according to the actual direction of advance of the sheet. One embodiment of the present invention provides that the sheet to be cut and creased is positioned with the enhanced side facing upward and that the cutting and/or creasing means are positioned below the plane on which the sheet is fed.
Another embodiment provides that the printing means are disposed above the plane on which the sheet is fed. In this way, the printing head, being above the plane on which the sheet is fed, is in a condition in which the possibilities of residual impurities and dust being deposited are reduced to a minimum, if not substantially eliminated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:
- fig. 1 shows a machine for cutting and creasing according to the present invention in a first operating step;
- fig. 2 shows the machine in fig. 1 in a second operating step; - fig. 3 shows the machine in fig. 1 in a third operating step;
- fig. 4 shows the machine in fig. 1 in a fourth operating step;
- fig. 5 is a partial view of a detail of the machine in fig. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF - A -
EMBODIMENT
With reference to the attached drawings, a machine 10 according to the present invention is used to carry out cutting and/or creasing processes on a relatively rigid material, in this case a sheet 11 of cardboard; for example it can be a single sheet, a sheet of a continuous module but also a portion of a strip, a sheet coming from a stack, or one or two sheets coming from one or more stacks and fed in parallel to the machine 10.
Merely to give an example, the creasing or cutting carried out on the sheet 1 1 of cardboard by the machine 10 are intended to promote the precise and linear folding of the cardboard, for example in the steps of automated production of a box for packing.
The machine 10 comprises a first feed plane 12 and a second feed plane 22, each of which consists of a plurality of panels 13 mounted on supports 14, and on which the sheet 1 1 to be worked is made to advance. The machine 10 according to the present invention comprises a support structure 15, disposed between the first feed plane 12 and the second feed plane 22 transversely with respect to the direction of advance of the sheets 11.
A working unit 16 (fig. 5) and a printing unit 19 are mounted on the support structure 15, positioned respectively below and above a hypothetic feed plane of the sheet 11.
The working unit 16 comprises a plurality of cutting and/or creasing tools 20 positioned coaxially with respect to each other and reciprocally movable in an independent manner in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of advance of the sheet 11. A first pair of drawing rolls 17 and a second pair of drawing rolls 18 are assembled respectively upstream and downstream of the support structure 15 with respect to the direction of advance of the sheet 11.
Each pair of drawing rolls 17 and 18 consists of a motorized roll and an idle roll. The motorized roll is keyed onto a transmission shaft put into rotation by an electric motor.
The machine 10 also comprises a command and control unit 30 which is electronically connected to the electric motor, to the working unit 16 and to the printing unit 19. The command and control unit 30 is programmed to set both the temporary position of the working unit 16 and/or of the printing unit 19, and also to activate the printing unit 19 or one or other of the tools 20 of the working unit 16, according to the process required for the specific sheet 11. The machine 10 as described heretofore functions as follows.
The sheet 1 1 is moved above the first feed plane 12 and fed toward the working unit 16 and the printing unit 19, by means of the first pair of drawing rolls 17, in order to undergo a first process, in this case the execution of a plurality of cuts 21 and a printing, the latter not visible in the drawing (fig. 1). At the end of the first process, the sheet 11 is fed along the second feed plane 22, drawn by the first 17 and the second 18 pairs of drawing rolls (fig. 2).
When the sheet has completely emerged from the second pair of drawing rolls 18, an operator rotates it manually by 90° and positions it again on the second feed plane 22 (fig. 3). The command and control unit 30 is programmed so that, at the end of the first process, after the expulsion of the sheet 11 , the direction of rotation of the drawing rolls 17 and 18 is reversed so as to drive the sheet 11 above the working unit 16, in an opposite direction with respect to the direction it advanced during the first process. The command and control unit 30 is also programmed so as to position and drive the tools 20 of the working unit 16 in order to carry out a second process, for example a plurality of creasings 23, during this second passage above the working unit 16 (fig. 4).
In this way, processes are carried out on the sheet 1 1 in directions substantially perpendicular with respect to each other, using a single machine 10.
It is clear, however, that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the machine for cutting and/or creasing 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.
For example, according to a variant, the machine also comprises a rotation device, disposed downstream of the cutting and/or creasing means, and able to rotate the sheet and feed it toward the second pair of drawing rolls 18 in the second direction of advance.
The rotation device can be, for example, a rotatable plate associated with alignment and thrust bars.
According to a further variant, the machine comprises detection means to detect the position of the sheet 11, for example of the optical type or other, connected to the command and control unit 30. The detection means detect the position of the sheet 11 on the first feed plane
12, upstream of the first process, and the position of the sheet 11 on the second feed plane 22, upstream of the second process.
The detection is transmitted to the command and control unit 30 which, if the position of the sheet 11 does not conform to the predefined position for the process programmed, produces an error signal and stops the pairs of drawing rolls 17 and 18, the working unit 16 and the printing unit 19.
It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of machine for cutting and/or creasing, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.
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