MACHINE FOR DECORATING MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS, PARTICULARLY LEATHERS AND FABRICS FOR MANUFACTURING CLOTHING ITEMS AND ACCESSORIES, UPHOLSTERY OR THE LIKE The present invention refers to a machine for decorating manufactured products, particularly leathers and fabrics for manufacturing clothing items and accessories, upholstery or the like.

It is well known how, in many industrial activity sectors, the need is felt to renew manufactured products and find new ones so as to better distinguish these from those of the competition.

Such need is felt, in particular, in the manufacture and preparation of cloths, fabrics and leathers used for clothing and/or upholstery, meaning to make clothes, bags, shoes, curtains and the like, or to upholster a wall, padded parts of a piece of furniture, of a car and the like. To cater for the above requirements, for example, the use is known of particular machinery for the treatment of tanned hides, by means of which on the visible surface of these manufactured products small cuts are made by means of the pressure of a circular saw. Such machinery is not without drawbacks, including the fact that it permits achieving fairly limited cuts in terms of depth, as well as cuts that are not particularly precise and with a rather approximate profile. Other so-called "leather-breaker" machines permit cutting leather, hides or the like in the direction of the thickness, meaning so as to separate the opposing surfaces and obtain two very thin sheets of the same material; such machinery features a longitudinal cutting blade that penetrates a strip of the leather to be worked and crosses this as far as the opposite strip.

These machines are however susceptible to further upgrading in order to obtain original manufactured products with unusual shapes, featuring innovative characteristics intended to elevate the aesthetic perception of the product and appear more appealing to customers.

The principal aim of this invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the known technique complained of above and excogitate a machine for decorating

manufactured products, particularly leathers and fabrics for manufacturing clothing items and accessories, upholstery or the like, allowing to manufacture innovative manufactured products, which cannot be alternatively obtained by means of techniques or machines of known type, featuring very deep and precise cuts.

As part of such technical aim, another purpose of the present invention is to achieve the preceding aims with a simple structure, of relatively practical implementation, safe use and effective operation, as well as of a relatively low cost. This aim and these purposes are all achieved by

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear even more evident from the detailed description of a preferred, but not exclusive, form of embodiment of a machine for decorating manufactured products, particularly leathers and fabrics for manufacturing clothing items and accessories, upholstery and the like, illustrated by way of non limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 is a side view of the machine according to the invention in partial transparency; figure 2 is a side, partially sectional view of a part of the machine according to the invention in work phase.

With special reference to the above figures, a machine for decorating manufactured products, particularly leathers and fabrics for manufacturing clothing items and accessories, upholstery and the like has been generally designated by reference number 1.

The machine 1 comprises a basic frame 2, on which are fitted a framework 3, featuring a work surface 4 at least partially cylindrical in shape, on which is arranged a sheet 5 to be worked, in leather, hide, fabric or the like, and a cutting device 6 of the surface of sheet 5.

In the particular form of embodiment of the invention shown in the figures, the

work surface 4 is defined by the side surface of a roller 7 which is fitted on the framework 3 so it turns around a horizontal rotation axis A which is coaxial to it.

The framework 3 and the cutting device 6 are associated with the frame 2 in a relatively mobile way, the one with respect to the other, between a first operating configuration, in which the cutting device 6 is arranged in contact with the sheet 5 and is substantially tangent (figure 2) with the work surface 4, and a second operating configuration in which the work surface 4 and the cutting device 6 are arranged reciprocally apart. Usefully, the cutting device 6 consists of a belt saw 8 wrapped around two flywheels 9 fitted on the frame 2 and driven in rotation around two axes slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal plane and orthogonal to the rotation axis A. The flywheels 9, shown in figure 1 by a broken line, are fastened to the frame 2 so they can only move in a rotational direction around their axes; the upper straight section of the belt saw 8, kept under tension between the flywheels 9, does not therefore change its position with respect to the frame 2 and, in the first operating configuration, is placed in contact with the sheet 5 by the approach of the framework 3. The framework 3, in detail, is associated with the frame 2 in a way that it can oscillate between the first and the second operating configuration around a swinging axis B substantially parallel to the rotation axis A of roller 7, and is driven in rotation around the swinging axis by means of oscillation actuator means 10. Such actuator means consist, for example, in a plurality of linear actuators with fluid operation, of the pneumatic and/or hydraulic jack type, the ends of which are hinged to frame 2 and framework 3 respectively at points distinct from the swinging axis B. The machine 1 usefully features means of forward movement 11 of the sheet 5 on the work surface 4, which can be operated alternately in a first direction of forward movement able, in the first operating configuration, to drag the sheet 5 against the belt saw 8 until an internally extended cut 12 is made on the sheet in

a direction substantially parallel to the surface of the sheet 5, and in a second direction of forward movement opposite to the first able, in the first operating configuration, to drag the sheet 5 as far as the exit of the belt saw 8 from the cut 12. The means of forward movement 11 are composed, for example, of a plurality of cylinders 13 for dragging the sheet 5, which are mounted on the framework 3 so they rotate around their axes and around which is wrapped at least in part the sheet 5, and of a motorised system, not illustrated in detail in the figures, able to operate in rotation the roller 7 and/or the cylinders 13. The axes of the cylinders 13 are arranged parallel to the rotation axis A of roller 7.

In the particular form of embodiment of the invention illustrated in the figures, the sheet 5 is associated with the outer surface of a flexible belt 14 closed on itself like a ring and wrapped around the roller 7 and the cylinders 13; the rotating action of the roller 7 and/or of the cylinders 13, in actual fact, starts the movement of the flexible belt 14 around these, dragging with it the sheet 5. Alternative forms of implementation of the present invention cannot however be excluded in which the sheet 5 is wrapped in a coil around the two cylinders 13 arranged downstream and upstream of the roller 7 respectively; in this case, the wrapping of the sheet 5 on one of the cylinders 13 causes the unwrapping of the sheet 5 from the other cylinder 13.

Usefully, the machine 1 features means 15 for the fine regulation of the depth of the cuts 12 made on the sheet 5 which, advantageously, comprise means of adjustment, of the screw type, of the position of the rotation axis A of the roller 7 with respect to the framework 3.

The machine 1 also comprises moving means of the sheet 5 with respect to the cutting device 6 able to move the cut 12 just made on the sheet 5 away from the belt saw 8 and to position by the cutting device 6 a portion of the sheet 5 still to be cut. Such moving means are composed, for example, of the means of forward movement 11 of the sheet 5 in the second direction of forward movement with the framework 3 kept in the first operating configuration.

Alternatively, the moving means are composed of means of forward movement

11 of the sheet 5 in any of the forward directions once the framework 3 has been arranged in the second operating configuration.

This invention operates as follows: the framework 3 is initially arranged in the second operating configuration to allow fitting the sheet 5 around the roller 7 and cylinders 13.

The roller 7 is then moved closer to the belt saw 8 by means of the operation of the linear actuators 10, reaching the first operating configuration.

Once the belt saw 8 has started, the sheet 5 is dragged alternately in the first and the second direction of forward movement to make a first cut 12 on this.

At this point, leaving the framework 3 in the first operating configuration, the sheet 5 is allowed to slide underneath the belt saw 8 and to move forward in the second direction of forward movement so as not to engage the belt saw 8 cutter; after moving the first cut 12 away from the cutting device 6, another cut 12 can be made by moving the sheet 5 in the first direction of forward movement and repeating the operation as many times as required to obtain leathers, fabrics or the like featuring the same number of cuts 12.

Alternatively, once the first cut 12 has been made, the framework 3 can be positioned in the second operating configuration, the rotation of roller 7 and/or cylinders 13 can be made to drag the sheet 5 in one of the forward directions and then the framework 3 can be arranged again in the first operating configuration to make another cut 12.

It has in practice been found how the described invention achieves the desired purposes. The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which falling within the scope of the inventive concept.

Furthermore all the details can be replaced with others that are technically equivalent.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirements without because of this moving outside the protection scope of the following claims.