As already known, one of the leather upgrading treatments requires the application to low-quality hides, called split leather, of a laminar element constituted by a continuous film of synthetic material, on which veins reproducing the aesthetic characteristics of high-quality leather are reproduced.

More precisely, the film is unrolled or produced directly on the processing line through spreading on release paper and applied to the split leather in particular coupling boxes that join it to the split leather after spreading or spraying a glue layer.

At the point where the product or semi-finished product leaves these boxes, it is constituted by a continuous film to which the various split leathers are applied, properly spaced from one another and ready to be trimmed.

The known trimming method requires the presence of two or more operators, who first position the semi-finished product manually so that the split leathers are arranged facing upwards in order to make them visible and then, by means of a cutting tool, provide for trimming the film following the perimeter of the hides.

A first drawback of this method is constituted by the fact that the process is carried out manually, which affects both the production speed and the cost of the entire production process.

A further drawback is represented by the fact that the operators in charge with the trimming process cannot keep pace with the production speed of the coupling boxes. This further limits the production capacity of a leather upgrading system.

A further drawback connected to the previous one is constituted by the fact that the trimming operation cannot be carried out continuously along the production line of the film-split leather semi-finished product, unless a considerable reduction in production speed is accepted.

Another drawback is constituted by the fact that the trimming process must be performed by expert operators.

A further drawback is represented by the fact that the quality of the product obtained after the trimming phase strongly depends on the skill of the operator in charge with this task.

The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks described above.

In particular, it is a first aim of the invention to propose an automatic method for trimming a laminar element following the profile or perimeter of a body applied to it and a machine for the application of this method.

It is a further aim to propose a continuous trimming method that is completely automatic and reduces to the minimum or even eliminates any manual operation.

It is another goal of the invention to propose a method and a machine that can be introduced in continuous production lines and in particular that can be fed directly from a leather upgrading line.

It is a further aim to propose a method and a machine that allow the trimming time to be considerably reduced.

It is another aim to propose a method and a machine that ensure a processing quality that is constant over time.

Another aim is to propose a machine that can also work at a speed exceeding 8 m/min.

It is a further aim to propose a method and a machine that considerably reduce trimming costs compared to the known method.

It is a further aim to propose a method for continuously and automatically measuring the surface area of a moving body and a relevant machine that reduces to the minimum and if possible even eliminates the need for any manual operation and can be inserted in continuous processing lines.

Another aim is to propose a method and a machine that are simple and reliable.

The aims mentioned above are achieved by a method for trimming and/or measuring laminar elements to which at least one body is applied, which, in accordance with the main claim, is characterized in that it comprises the following operations: - laying said laminar element and making it advance continuously; - acquiring all the geometrical data regarding said laminar element and said at least one body in order to store them in at least one electronic memory accessible to an automatic processing system that identifies the perimeter of said at least one body in real time; - cutting said laminar element along said perimeter, while it moves continuously.

Again according to the invention, the aims mentioned above are achieved by a

method for the continuous measuring of the surface area of at least one body applied to a laminar element, which, in accordance with claim 4, is characterized in that it comprises the following operations : - laying said laminar element and making it advance continuously; - acquiring all the geometrical data regarding said laminar element and said at least one body to be measured, in order to store them in at least one electronic memory accessible to an automatic processing system that identifies the perimeter of said at least one body in real time and calculates its surface area in order to make it available in said at least one electronic memory.

The aims mentioned above are achieved also by a machine for the continuous trimming of at least one body applied to a laminar element positioned on a moving conveyor surface of a conveyor unit that, in accordance with claim 8, is characterized in that it comprises: - an automatic system suitable for acquiring the geometrical data of said laminar element and of said at least one body during their movement on said surface; - at least one electronic memory suitable for storing said geometrical data acquired and to make them available for retrieval and/or automatic processing in real time; - an automatic processing system cooperating with said at least one electronic memory to identify the profile of said body to be trimmed and to control an automatic cutting unit that will cut said laminar element along said profile.

The aims mentioned above are achieved also by a machine for the continuous measuring of the surface area of at least one body applied to a laminar element arranged on a moving conveyor surface of a conveyor unit that, in accordance with claim 10, is characterized in that it comprises: - an automatic system suitable for acquiring the geometrical data of said laminar element and of said at least one body during their movement on said surface ; - at least one electronic memory suitable for storing said geometrical data acquired and to make them available for retrieval and/or automatic processing in real time; - an automatic processing system cooperating with said at least one

electronic memory to identify and make automatically available, in said at least one electronic memory, at least the surface area of said at least one body.

To advantage, the method and the machine proposed can be inserted in continuous production lines for leather upgrading.

Still to advantage, the system proposed allows an upgraded leather production line to be completely automated.

To advantage, the solution proposed allows production time to be optimized, considerably reducing and sometimes eliminating the intervention of operators.

The aims and advantages described above will be highlighted in greater detail in the description of one among many possible applications of the invention, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein: - Figures from 1 to 3 show some phases of the continuous trimming method that is the object of this invention ; - Figure 4 is an axonometric view of the trimming machine that is also object of this invention; - Figure 5 is a plan view of the machine shown in Figure 4.

Although the description of the method and of the applications proposed refer to use in the sector of upgraded leather processing, it is clear that the identified solution can also be applied in other analogous sectors.

The method for the continuous trimming of a flexible laminar element following the profile of a body applied to it, which is the object of this invention, will be now described making reference to Figures from 1 to 3.

In this case the laminar element 1 is constituted by a synthetic film onto which the body P constituted by a low-quality hide has been glued.

According to the invention, the laminar element 1 must be laid and then moved forwards along a rectilinear advance direction 3, while an optical system 4 automatically detects the geometrical characteristics of the film 1 and of the body P itself and stores them in a processing system that identifies the profile of the hide P and controls a system 5 for the continuous cutting of the film 1 as the laminar element 1 advances.

More precisely, according to the invention the trimming method comprises the following operations: - laying the film 1 to which the hide or body P is associated and making it advance continuously ;

- acquiring all the geometrical characteristics of the film 1 and of the body P, in order to store them in an electronic memory accessible to an automatic processing system that identifies the perimeter of the body P in real time; - cutting the film 1, along the identified perimeter, while the film 1 itself keeps moving.

Again according to the invention, the automatic real-time processing system calculates also the surface area of the body P in order to store this data and make it available in the electronic memory.

Furthermore, according to the method proposed, after the cutting operation the body P must be separated from the film 1.

Again according to the invention the method proposed, during the acquisition and processing of the data concerning the characteristics of the film 1 and the body P, foresees that the film 1 itself is moved forwards, at the same time checking and if necessary varying the advance speed of the film 1 itself.

This is intended to synchronize the various operations to be carried out according, for example, to the processing and calculation times necessary to identify the profile and/or the surface area of the body P or to the characteristics of the film to be cut.

Always according to the invention, the film to which the hides P are applied may also come from a storage warehouse. In this case the system also comprises the automatic collection of the film 1 and the laying of the same on the conveyor surface.

The machine that is also object of the present invention is represented in the Figures 4 and 5, where it is indicated as a whole by 100.

It comprises a conveyor unit 101 on which the laminar element 1 is laid and an automatic system for the acquisition of the geometrical characteristics of the laminar element 1 and of the body P, indicated as a whole by 102, which acquires these data in order to store them in the electronic memory.

Said electronic memory is suited to make these data available so that they can be retrieved and/or automatically processed in real time through an automatic processing system 103 that identifies the profile of the hide P in order to control a film cutting unit 105 positioned after the acquisition system 102.

Again according to the invention, the data processing system 103 also provides for calculating the surface area of the hide P and makes this data available so that

it can be retrieved and/or processed even by other systems, storing it in the above mentioned electronic memory.

The conveyor unit 101 comprises a conveyor belt 106 and holding means 107 of the laminar element 1, arranged in correspondence with the automatic cutting unit 105, constituted by a suction unit, not represented, which generates a vacuum and in this way holds the laminar element or the film 1 itself.

It is important to point out that the laminar element 1 is compact and therefore air cannot pass through it, so that it is kept in the correct position during the cutting operation without the aid of upper or lower paper sheets, which on the other hand are always necessary if the laminar element 1 is made of a porous material.

As far as the automatic acquisition system 102 is concerned, it comprises a lighting system 108 and linear optical detectors 109 with appropriate resolution, suited to detect the geometrical characteristics of the laminar element 1 and of the hide P.

The optical detectors 109 can be linear or constituted by equivalent devices, capable of detecting the geometrical characteristics of a body, even if this is moving, with sufficient resolution.

In particular, the detectors used have a resolution included between 0,1 and 0,25 mm and comprise a series of linear video cameras arranged side by side, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, so that it is possible to detect instantaneously a stripe of the element 1 and of the body P recorded, which slides under them.

The signal produced by the acquisition system and the information contained therein are then stored, as explained above, into an electronic memory as a series of consecutive lines that form the stripe detected.

As regards the processing system 103, it comprises an electronic processor and calculation algorithms that, through real-time processing the information acquired and stored in the electronic memory, generate a continuous representation of the image of the laminar element 1 and of the hide P.

Starting from this representation other algorithms, based for example on the comparison between the luminosity of pixels belonging to adjacent lines, make it possible to identify the perimeter or the profile of the hide P to be trimmed and of the surface area of the hide P.

It must be observed that the information detected concerning a specific stripe must be processed in a shorter time than the time the same detected part of the laminar element 1 needs to reach the cutting unit 105 positioned after the

acquisition system 102.

Once the geometrical and dimensional characteristics of the body P have been defined, always in real time, they are passed to a system that controls the cutting unit 105.

Said automatic cutting unit 105 allows the film 1 to be cut while it is moving and comprises one or more cutting heads 110.

In the example shown, said automatic cutting unit 105 is of the type with two axes X, Y and comprises a cutting head 110 that slides on the entire cutting plane on a saddle 111, which moves on a moving rail 112, positioned orthogonally with respect to the advance direction of the laminar element 1.

The rail 112 is supported at its ends by moving carriages 113 on guides 114 arranged parallelly to the advance direction 3 of the laminar element 1.

The movement of both the saddle 111 and the carriages 113 is ensured by moving means not represented and comprising electric motors cooperating with kinematic units and belt drive and/or equivalent drive units.

As far as the cutting head 111 is concerned, it comprises a mechanical blade system that can be traditional or with linear motor. Alternatively, the cutting head 111 can be constituted by equivalent systems, like for example laser or water jet cutting heads.

It must be observed that the cutting unit 105 and therefore the cutting head 111 work taking in consideration the advance speed of the laminar element 1, also following any speed variation of the conveyor unit 101.

As previously described, the conveyer unit 101 is provided with a suction system that locks the laminar element 1 onto the cutting plane.

As regards the cutting belt or plane, it is of the self-regenerating type that, as already known, allows the blade to penetrate.

A first variant of the proposed machine, not represented, is differentiated from the previous one by the fact that the detecting system comprises more than one series of aligned video cameras, arranged in such a way as to be able to detect at the same time several parallel stripes spaced from one another of a given distance. Data detection in this case takes place through the simultaneous reading of several stripes that may have overlapping areas.

In this case, the images obtained are properly filtered through calculation algorithms that eliminate these overlapping or interference areas and make it possible to obtain a uniform image for the whole width of the laminar element 1.

The video cameras may be both digital and analogic and operate both in the visible frequency range and in other ranges, like for example in the infrared range, depending both on the lighting system used and on the characteristics of the material of which the film 1 or the body P are made.

Still to advantage, there may be also more than one lighting system, which can be differentiated, for example, by their incidence angle.

This will make it possible to obtain an extremely precise indication, almost without probability of error, of the characteristics of the laminar element 1 and of the hides P, including any defects that can be eliminated during the cutting phase.

According to a further variant not represented the machine can be provided with several cutting heads 110.

In this case the cutting head control system will provide for optimizing the path of each cutting head during the cutting phase, according to both the path to be covered and their reciprocal position, so that they can work simultaneously without interfering with one another.

It is important to observe that all the operations described, that is, detecting of the image, identification of the profile, trimming of the hide P and measurement of the surface area of the upgraded hide P, are performed without interruption and in real time, while the laminar element 1 is moving.

It should also be observed that the system can also control the conveyor unit automatically, to adjust the advance speed of the laminar element and guarantee the perfect synchronization of the various moving parts of the machine.

To advantage, the machine object of the invention can be inserted in continuous production lines and doesn't need any intervention by the operators.

The above clearly shows that the invention described achieves the set goals.

Even though the invention has been described making reference to the attached drawings, upon implementation modifications may be made, which are all included in the same innovative concept expressed in the claims below and therefore covered by this patent.