ADJUSTABLE GUIDING DEVICE FOR AN EDGE BANDING MACHINE

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a manually adjustable guiding device for guiding the introduction of panels or the like into an edge banding machine.

As is known, these machines are used in various sectors, from construction to furniture, for finishing the edge of panels or slabs made of different materials such as wood, metal or composite materials.

Specifically, edge banding machines are widely used in the wood sector to apply the edge to panels for furniture manufacturing.

These panels to be edge-banded may indifferently be made of solid wood, chipboard, multilayer wood, fibres, for example of the MDF type, or other similar materials.

An edge banding machine is provided with different functional groups according to the versatility and qualitative detail that one wants to achieve.

Surely, all the machines have a first functional guiding group which allows the correct positioning and insertion of the panel into the machine.

A feeding group follows which moves the panel towards a grinding group which, by means of cutters or similar tools, removes a part of the edge profile of the panel, both to eliminate any irregularities and to compensate for the thickness of the edge which will be applied.

Gluing, cutting, finishing and drying groups then follow, according to the complexity of the edge banding machine.

The edge banding machines currently on the market are provided with essentially two types of guiding devices: fixed or adjustable.

The fixed guiding devices generally do not allow the position of the panel with respect to the position of the grinding group and therefore the removal depth of the tools to be adjusted.

With these devices, in order to adapt the removal depth to a specific process, shims are generally used which are placed between a guiding surface and the edge of the panel. This manoeuvre, performed manually by the operator, makes loading the panels into the machine less practical, as well as exposing the operator to risks for his/her own safety.

In addition to this, this operating mode is disadvantageous since it could mislead the operator who would have to manage various shims corresponding to certain removal depths.

Furthermore, for the initial setting of the machine, when the fixed guiding device or the cutter group are replaced, the interventions of specialized personnel belonging to the machine manufacturer are generally required.

On the other hand, adjustable guiding devices are more versatile, i.e. provided with a continuously movable guide by means of mechanical slides or similar means. These devices allow the operator to quickly adjust the position of the guide to adapt it to the desired removal depth.

On the other hand, these adjustable guiding devices are more complex and expensive and in any case require a certain amount of attention by the operator in selecting the exact position of the movable guide corresponding to the expected removal depth.

In this context, the object of the present invention is to propose a guiding device for introducing panels into an edge banding machine, which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.

More particularly, the object of the invention is to provide a guiding device which allows the removal depth to be adjusted in a simple and quick manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a guiding device for a panel in an edge banding machine which is simple and cost-effective to produce.

The object of the present invention is also to provide a guiding device that is easy to use and which limits the risk of errors by the operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guiding device that is easy to set when replacing the cutter group.

These and other objects are all achieved by a guiding device for an edge banding machine, suitable for guiding a workpiece to be machined towards a workgroup of said edge banding machine, according to the appended claim 1.

In detail, the guiding device according to the present invention is configured to arrange an edge face of said workpiece to be machined on a guide plane parallel to a reference plane of the edge banding machine, which guide plane is staggered with respect to said reference plane by a predefined distance.

According to the invention, the guiding device comprises:

- a support plate suitable for being constrained to the edge banding machine;

- a guide, fixable to the support plate, suitable for receiving the edge face of the panel in sliding support;

- a locking device suitable for locking the guide on the support plate; and possibly

- a support plate suitable for supporting the panel which slides on the guide.

Advantageously, according to the present invention, the guide is removably mounted on the support plate.

Furthermore, said guide has at least two mounting positions corresponding to two operating positions.

In further detail, in each operating position, the guide is configured for arranging the edge side of the workpiece to be machined on respective guide planes at different distances from the reference plane of the edge banding machine.

Said reference plane is, for example, the plane tangent to the cutter or cutters of the grinding group of the edge banding machine.

Each operating position therefore allows the distance between the guide plane where the edge face of the workpiece lies and the plane tangent to the cutters to be varied, so as to vary the removal depth of the latter.

By virtue of the removable blocking of the guide, it is sufficient to release the blocking device and reposition the guide in a different operating position corresponding to the desired removal depth.

For this purpose, the guide may be provided with visual references, such as for example abbreviations, numbers or the like, suitable for indicating the corresponding removal depth for each operating position of the guide.

In this way, the operator is even more facilitated in setting up the machine since he/she only has to check the currently set sweeping depth and, if it needs to be changed, it is sufficient to reposition the guide in the operating position corresponding to the desired removal depth.

According to one aspect of the invention, the guide may comprise a body, elongated in a direction parallel to the feed direction of the workpiece in the edge banding machine. The body has at least two operating sides, so that the guide has at least two operating configurations, one for each operating side.

Advantageously, each of said operating sides may comprise an abutment surface suitable for receiving the edge face of the workpiece to be machined in sliding support.

In particular, the guide is configured in such a way that, in at least two operating configurations, the aforesaid abutment surfaces lie on respective guide planes substantially parallel to the reference plane of the edge banding machine and at respective different distances from the latter.

According to another aspect of the invention, the guide comprises at least one fastening side contiguous to an operating side, i.e. comprising an abutment surface.

Said fastening side comprises a positioning surface, suitable for resting on the support plate in an operating position. At least one hole or slot is present on said positioning surface. The support plate, in turn, comprises at least one positioning element suitable for engaging said at least one hole.

By virtue of this configuration it is possible to precisely arrange the guide with respect to the support plate to obtain a given removal depth in a respective operating position, making the tightening operations of the blocking device easier and faster.

According to a preferred variant, the abutment surface and the positioning surface of two contiguous sides are substantially perpendicular to each other.

Furthermore, the plane passing through the axis of the at least one hole present in the positioning surface is parallel to the reference plane of the edge banding machine.

In this way, the distance between the plane passing through the axis of the hole of the positioning surface which is in abutment on the support plate and the abutment surface of a contiguous side, which receives the workpiece to be machined in abutment, is different for each operating position. The difference between said distances corresponds to the difference between the removal depths in the various operating positions.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the guide may comprise a profile having a quadrangular cross-section where each side of the profile comprises a positioning surface and an abutment surface parallel to each other and lying on staggered planes.

According to this variant, the support plate has an almost horizontal development and comprises a first support surface and a second support surface, suitable for receiving in support the abutment surface and the positioning surface of one side of the guide in a predetermined operating position.

The at least one positioning element generally protrudes from said second support surface of the support plate.

Advantageously, according to a preferred variant, each positioning surface comprises at least two holes, or slots, aligned along the development direction of the guide, providing further stability in coupling with the positioning elements.

Said positioning elements generally comprise pins or the like suitable for coupling precisely to the holes or slots of the guide.

According to one aspect of the invention, the support plate may have two shaped seats inside which the two positioning elements are stably housed.

According to a preferred variant, the latter may comprise a lower part, preferably threaded, housed in a respective hole, possibly threaded, of the seat in the support plate. Said positioning elements also comprise an upper centring part, for example in the form of a pin, which engages the holes (or slots) of the guide and which is arranged eccentrically with respect to the lower part.

The positioning element may be made in a single piece or may comprise several parts joined together. In the second case, according to a preferred variant, the upper centring part is made of a polymeric material, such as for example polyethylene or polyzene, so as to reduce friction during coupling with the holes or slots of the guide, avoiding that the latter are subject to wear which would require the replacement of the entire guide.

The upper part of the positioning elements, on the other hand, may be replaced quickly and with minimal cost when eventually worn out.

This configuration makes it possible to carry out an initial adjustment of the position of the positioning elements according to the position of the reference plane of the machine. This adjustment system, for example, is useful when the guide is installed on the machine for the first time or when the cutter group, which could have a slightly different effective diameter, is replaced, thus varying the position of the reference plane of the edge banding machine.

According to another aspect of the invention, the locking device comprises a locking bracket, which may be fixed to the support plate, a locking screw, for locking the aforementioned bracket on the support plate, and an abutment pad integral with the bracket suitable for pressing the guide against the support plate in the working position.

By acting on the blocking screw, for example by means of a lever, a small handle or the like, it is possible to loosen the grip of the abutment pad on the guide so as to extract the latter and reposition it in the desired operating position.

By virtue of this blocking method of the guide, the variation of the depth of cut may take place in a simple and quick manner with an extremely reduced risk of errors by the operator.

Further features and details will be apparent from the following description, given by way of non-limiting example, as well as by the accompanying drawing tables in which:

- Figure 1 is a side view of an edge banding machine provided with a guiding device made according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows a top plan view of the edge banding machine of Figure 1;

- Figure 3 is an isometric view of the guiding device depicted in Figures 1 and 2;

- Figure 4 is an axonometric exploded view of the guiding device depicted in Figure 3;

- Figure 5 is a lateral sectional view of the blocking device shown in Figure 3.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, an edge banding machine B is shown schematically provided with a guiding device 10 for guiding a panel P entering the machine and more specifically towards a cutter group GF. Said cutter group generally comprises a pair of counter-rotating circular cutters whose external diameters are tangent to a reference plane PT.

With reference to Figures 1 to 5, the guiding device 10 comprises a support plate 12, suitable for being constrained to the edge banding machine B and a guide 14 removably mounted on said support plate 12. In detail, said guide 14 is kept on the plate 12 by a releasable locking device 16. In the variant illustrated, the guiding device 10 also comprises a support plate 18 on which the panel P rests while it slides in contact with the guide 14 towards the cutter group

GF of the edge banding machine B (Fig. 2).

The support plate 12 has an almost horizontal development and shows on the side where it is fixed to the edge banding machine B two appendages 20, 22 with perpendicular development suitable for being fixed to the aforementioned edge banding machine B by means of screws or the like passing through holes 24.

Furthermore, the support plate 12, on its upper face, has two support surfaces 26, 28 which are substantially horizontal and staggered from each other, forming a stable support profile for the guide 14 in the operating position.

Perpendicular to the two support surfaces 26 28, the support plate 12 has two shaped holes 29 inside which two positioning elements 30 are stably locked, by means of a threaded coupling.

These positioning elements 30 define an axis which may be adjusted and set in a position parallel to the reference plane PT.

Each positioning element 30 comprises a lower threaded part 31, a central abutment part 32, concentric and with a larger diameter than the lower part, and an upper positioning part 33.

The upper positioning part 33 has an eccentric axis Yp with respect to the axes of the aforesaid lower and central parts.

The upper positioning part 33 is suitable for engaging the guide 14, allowing the latter to remain in the predetermined working position with precision and stability.

The guide 14 is obtained by machining a hollow profile 15 with a square section.

Each side of the guide 14 has a positioning surface 38 and an abutment surface 40 parallel and staggered from each other. These positioning surfaces 38 and abutment 40 are distant from each other by the same distance D which is present between the support surfaces 26, 28 as illustrated in Fig. 5.

In more detail, said positioning surfaces 38 and abutment 40 are arranged side by side along the development direction of the profile and extend along the entire length of the latter.

Each positioning surface 38 also has a calibrated hole 34 and a calibrated slot 36.

The axes of the hole 34 and of the slot 36 are parallel to each other and lie in a plane Pa parallel to the reference plane.

The distance between the abutment surface 40 and the plane formed by the axes of the hole 34 and of the slot 36, arranged on the contiguous face which rests on the support plate 12 in the operating position, defines the removal depth for the four different operating positions as illustrated in Fig. 5.

Each side of the guide has a code 42 which identifies the operating position and more precisely the removal depth.

The locking device 16 comprises a locking bracket 44, a locking pin 46 and an abutment pad 48.

The locking bracket 44 has an almost Z or shape, i.e. it has a central part 44a arranged substantially vertically from the two ends whereof, two wings 44b, 44c extend in opposite directions.

The locking bracket 44 is fixed to the support plate 12 by means of the locking pin 46 which engages a threaded hole 49 in the support plate 12.

The locking pin 46 has an operating handle 50 on its upper end.

The abutment pad 48 has a threaded portion for connecting to the upper wing 44b of the locking bracket 44.

The use of the guide of the present invention takes place as described below.

Starting from a condition in which the locking device 16 is in a released condition, the guide 14 is positioned with a lower side resting on the support surfaces 26, 28 so that the two positioning elements 30, and specifically the centring parts 33, are each housed one in the hole 34 and the other in the slot 36 of said lower side of the guide 14. At this point, by tightening the operating handle 50, the locking bracket 44 is pushed and pressed towards the support plate 12 and, in turn, presses the abutment pad 48 against the upper side of the guide 14 which will be locked on the support plate 12 by virtue of the friction between the support surfaces 26, 28 and the positioning 38 and abutment 40 surfaces of the lower side of the guide 14.

The panel P may then be arranged on the support surface 18 and brought into abutment against the abutment surface 40; at this point it is manually advanced until it enters the edge banding machine B.

To vary the operating position of the guide device, simply carry out the following operations:

- loosen the operating handle 50,

- rotate the bracket 44 by 90 degrees,

- lift the guide 14 (so as to disengage the positioning elements 30),

- rotate the guide 14 with respect to its development axis (so as to position the abutment surface 40 on another side, indicating the desired removal depth, in operating condition),

- rest the guide 14 again on the support plate 12 by engaging the positioning elements 30 and, finally,

- re-tighten the locking device 16 by means of the operating handle 50.

The present invention thus described and illustrated is subject to numerous modifications and variants, all falling within the scope of the inventive concept; moreover, all details can be replaced by other technically equivalent elements.