The present marking machine is provided with devices for the marking or tracing of lines, signs or pictograms and is utilized on roads, playing fields, sports facilities, tennis courts, football grounds and similar places where it is necessary to mark or trace horizontal signs or markings. p When road markings are considered in the text, all the surfaces that need a horizontal marking are intended.

The present machine permits to automatically mark lines, signs, pictograms on roads, motorways, streets, places, etc, by utilizing stencils, or compositions pre-set in the machine.

It is thus sufficient to reach the place where the markings are necessary, to set the type of signs to be traced and to start the machine. At this stage, the machine performs all the operations automatically and the operator has nothing else to do.

The present machine permits to obtain a reduction in the labour cost as well as a higher precision in the finished result than the known prior art solutions.

As is known, for the marking or tracing of roads and motorways there are provided vehicles and means to trace the so-called horizontal road signs, i. e. signs, markings,

pictures, images, traces and pictograms which are marked or traced on the road surface directly.

Generally, the prior art provides stencils to trace signs or markings on the road surface.

The stencils may show several shapes such as lines, arrows, conventional symbols and so on.

Firstly, the operator positions the stencil on the road surface and then, the operator fills the inside of the stencil with a colouring agent.

In addition, there exist machines to spray continuous and interrupted lines. These machines must follow precise references such as threads extended between reference stakes arranged along the road to be traced.

It is evident that the utilization of the above machines involve many practical problems and difficulties, especially considering the labour cost and the lack of precision of the final result. As a matter of fact, the lines are traced manually or through mechanical-manual references and therefore, the final result is never perfect.

The aim of the present invention is to conceive and carryu out a machine that removes the above drawbacks and traces any kind of lines, images, symbols and pictograms on the surface of roads, motorways, places, parkings, football courts, tennis courts or sposts plants in general, or any area where the presence of horizontal markings is necessary.

Concerning the above general aim, the present invention proposes a machine equipped with all the accessories and instruments needed to automatically trace lines, images and pictograms of any kind.

It is thus sufficient for the operator to drive the vehicle to the place concerned and set the figure, pictogram or line to be traced so that the machine traces the horizontal markings automatically.

The present machine offers the following advantages: a considerable saving in labour cost and a higher precision than the prior art machines.

All the above aims and advantages are reached by carrying out a tracing machine that traces lines, signs and/or pictograms, in particular for the horizontal road markings and is provided with a particular apparatus that consists of a mechanical arm arranged on a support that is able to translate on itself and in any direction, and that a spraying unit is mounted on at least one of the ends of the said arm and the said sprying unit also is adjustable and rotatable in various directions.

All the movements of the mechanical arm are controlled through an electronic station and a PLC or a processor and similar control device for setting the drawing, pictogram or lines to be marked on the road surface.

Further features and details of the present invention will be better understood from the following specification provided as a non-restricting embodiment on the hand of the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of a machine according to the invention on the whole; Fig. 2 is a schematic lateral view of the same machine of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a schematic top view of the machine in a first phase in which the arm is positioned; Fig. 4 is a schematic top view of the machine in a second phase in which the arm is positioned orthogonally to the preceding position ; Figg. 5 and 6 are schematic top views of the machine during two operative phases.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, number 1 denotes a tracing machine for the tracing of lines, signs and/or pictograms, in particular for the horizontal road markings.

The tracing machine 1 according to the invention is provided with means that permit to automatically accomplish all the operations for the application of the colouring agent.

Basically, the machine 1 is a wheeled vehicle, for instance a three-wheeled vehicle and is provided with drive means, for instance a handle-bar 2 or a steering-wheel, mounted on a frame 3.

The rear of the frame 3 is provided with a seat 4 mounted on a support 5.

A particular mechanical arm 6 also is mounted on the support 5.

More precisely, the mechanical arm 6 is an oblong bar disposed horizontally and sliding horizontally along a guide 7.

In turn, the guide 7 turns round itself with a vertical axis of rotation, there being the possibility of an angular rotation of 360°.

An end of the mechanical arm 6 supports a spraying unit or head 8 and the other opposite end of the arm 6 supports a counterbalance 9.

The spraying unit or head 8 is provided with a colour spraying system directed downwards and is also provided with one or more colour reservoirs and one or more pneumatic spraying nozzles.

In case, the colour reservoirs and the pneumatic devices are housed in the inside of the vehicle frame and are connected through suitable channels to the spraying head 8.

In addition, the spraying head 8 may be provided with stencil tools of any shape so as to make figures, letters or markings according to pre-set conformations.

The spraying unit 8 is equipped with a vertical adjusting mechanism through which it it possible to position the spraying unit 8 at any height so as to vary the width of the area of the pictogram and/or image to be reproduced on the road surface by utilizing the stencil tools.

In practice, the conformation remains the same. Only the size changes.

The mechanical arm 6 and its spraying head 8 may be moved in several directions since the arm 6 slides in the guide 7 and the guide 7 rotates of 360° round itself. In addition, the

guide 7 is adjustable along two orthogonal axes or cross guides in respect to the frame, as represented in Figures 3 and 4 so that it is possible to displace the spraying unit 8 in short distances although the position of the vehicle remains the same.

The moving system may be either a rack system or a belt system or a piston system or another appropriate system.

The moving system is controlled through an electronic central plant provided with a PLC or microprocessor or a computer that contains all the necessary programs for the carrying out of markings, drawings or pictograms on the road surface. All the commands are shown in an appropriate display 10 connected to a keyboard or other control devices positioned near the handle-bar or in another point according to the need.

However, the tracing device may be also controlled through a detecting system positioned on the road surface and provided for instance with metal elements, rivets or other fixed references.

The fixed references may be mechanical or electronic references and are arranged on the road surface or in another suitable point near the road.

The said fixed references form a map that is stored in the PLC of the vehicle so that it is possible to recall the same map whenever it is necessary to effect the same type of sign in the same place.

Further, the utilization of the spraying device may be completely manual since it is possible for the operator to move both the arm and the vehicle in any directions manually and accomplish the spraying operations manually.

Advantageously, the vehicle 1 provided with the operative arm 6 may be either a wheeled vehicle or a caterpillar vehicle or a rack vehicle.

Otherwise, the vehicle is installed on an operative unit to be transported on the road.

In case the spraying head vehicle is placed on or is trailed by another operative vehicle, there are provided lines or tracks or the like on which the bearing vehicle or trailer is self- centered and moved. In this way, the road spraying is done from the bearing vehicle or trailer directly.

There is also the possibility of providing an aspirating or blowing device in the front of the vehicle in order to free the area to be coloured from dust or deposits.

In addition, drying means are provided on the arm 6 and preferably near the spraying head 8. The drying means may be resistance means, ventilation means, infrared-ray means or the like for an immediate drying of the sprayed colour.

As previously described, the present machine traces lines, signs or pictograms on playing- courts or sports courts in general such as tennis-courts, football courts or the like, and grounds and surfaces where it is necessary to trace horizontal markings.

A skilled artisan may provide several versions and changes in the so-described invention and obtain solutions to be considered as included in the scope of protection of the present invention as further defined, in its peculiar features, in the following claims.