A CUTTING TOOL FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY CUTTING A BLOCK OF STONE INTO ONE OR

MORE PIECES BY PRESS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is enclosed in the area of cutting blocks of stone into smaller pieces, through a press.

PRIOR ART

Solutions exist in the art where a single blade is pressed against a block of stone to be cut into two pieces, such as the case of patent application EP 3007872. Such solution allows to separate a piece from a larger block of stone.

Another solution is that of EP 1155797, which follows the same principle, but using two blades and an additional cutting element provided between such blades.

Such solutions do not allow to reliably cut pieces of stone from a larger block. For reliably cutting a block of stone into one or more pieces without waste, other solutions exist, comprising a frame forming several individual spaces, by pressing such cutting frame against the block of stone to be cut. Such prior art solution is exemplified in Figures la, lb and lc, which represents such prior art. Figure la presents a frame (1) with blades (2), one of which a frontal blade (21), thereby forming three individual closed spaces. Figures lb and lc present the operation of such solution, the frame being moved from a first position in Figure lb down to a second position in Figure lc, representing the cutting by press of the pieces of stone. By pressing such frame (1) (represented in Figures lb and lc through the downwards pointing arrow) against a block of stone (5), three individual pieces of stone are formed (not shown). Yet, such solution, by resorting to a frame which entirely constrains the section of the block of stone being cut through the frontal blade (21), leads to the drawback that the prior art frame (1) presses the block of stone (5) such that a part of it is left beyond the blade (51), thereby resulting in a loss of a part of the stone, which leads to waste (51). In other words, the constraining format of the prior art frame results in smashed chips or bits of rock, as shown in Figure lc.

The present solution allows to avoid waste, by cutting a block of stone into one or more pieces using all the block of stone, without leading to additional waste in each cut. Furthermore, it still allows a simultaneous and reliable cut by press. It thereby consists of an enhancement which innovatively overcomes the prior art solutions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention a cutting tool for simultaneously cutting a block of stone into one or more pieces by press which comprises at least three cutting sections configured to cut stone, each of the cutting sections comprising an edge for the cutting of stone, all the edges being arranged in a same plane, wherein the cutting sections comprise:

- a transversal cutting section comprising two ends,

-two flank cutting sections, each of the flank cutting sections comprising:

- an end which is connected to an end of the transversal cutting section, each of the flank cutting sections being connected to a different end of the transversal cutting section, and

- and end which is free.

The cutting tool of the present invention is formed by at least three cutting sections which, together, form a tool which has an open side, oppositely to the prior art solutions. Such open side is provided by the free ends of the two flank cutting sections. By having such free end, the pressing of such tool against a block of stone - in particular of the edges of the cutting sections of the tool - the block of stone is constrained by at least an area formed by each flank cutting section and at least a portion of the transversal cutting section. In such area, one side is open, which is that in between the ends of the respective flank cutting sections. By having such free end, not only it is easier to position the tool to cut as it provides a release of the cut piece of stone towards that section, thereby avoiding smashed chips or bits. By having such format, the cutting tool of the present invention allows to avoid waste, by cutting a block of stone into one or more pieces using all the block, without leading to waste in each cut. Still, it overcomes prior art solutions with a single blade by maintaining a high reliability of the cut while providing for the simultaneous cut of one or more pieces.

Furthermore, reference is made to the edges of the cutting sections being provided in a same plane. As shown in the figures 2-6 (which are described in the following sections), such plane is imaginary, representing the arrangement of the cutting sections and respective edges.

In an embodiment, the cutting tool may further comprise at least four cutting sections configured to cut stone, and it further comprises at least one inner cutting section provided between the two flank cutting sections and having:

- an end which is connected to an end of the transversal cutting section, each of the flank cutting sections being connected to a different end of the transversal cutting section, and

- and end which is free.

In such case, an open side is provided by the free ends of the two flank cutting sections and of the at least one inner cutting section. The block of stone is thereby constrained by at least two areas: each formed by one flank cutting section, an inner cutting section and a portion of the transversal cutting section in between such flank cutting section and inner cutting section. In such areas, one side is open, which is that in between the ends of the respective flank cutting section and inner cutting section. When the cutting tool comprises more than one inner cutting section, a part of the block of stone may thereby be constrained by two inner cutting sections and a portion of the transversal cutting section in between such inner cutting sections, leading to the simultaneous cut of two or more pieces of stone.

It is also an object of the present invention a press for cutting a block of stone into one or more pieces by press which comprises i) two cutting tools according to the present invention, in any of its embodiments, in which at least one of such cutting tools is movable, and ii) means for moving the movable cutting tool between a release and a cutting position, wherein the movable cutting tool is connected to the means for moving and the means for moving are configured such that, in the release position, the cutting tool is provided away from the other cutting tool and while moving to the cutting position, the cutting tool is moved towards the other cutting tool such that the edges simultaneously cut through a block of stone, the block thereby being cut into one or more pieces. The press of the present invention provides the same advantages as the cutting tool, adding further inventive aspects. It operates with means for moving the at least one movable cutting tool at least between a release and a cutting position. In the release position, the press allows for the positioning of the block of stone to be cut by the cutting tools. By moving the cutting tool or tools from the release position to the cutting position, a press of the cutting tools against the block of stone is provided, leading to the cut of one or more pieces of stone according to the format of the cutting tools.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Figure la - representation of a prior art solution (top view), consisting of a frame (1) with six blades (2), one of which a frontal blade (21), thereby forming three individual closed spaces. Figures lb, lc - these figures represent of the operation of the frame (1) of Figure la (side view), the frame being moved from a first position in Figure lb down to a second position in Figure lc, representing the cutting by press of the pieces of stone. By pressing such frame (1) (represented in Figures lb and lc through the downwards pointing arrow) against a block of stone (5), three individual pieces of stone are formed (not shown). The imaginary lines (3) represent the direction of movement of the frame. Yet, such solution, by resorting to a frame which entirely constrains the section of the block of stone being cut through the frontal blade (21), leads to the drawback that the prior art frame (1) presses the block of stone (5) such that a part of it is left beyond the blade (51), thereby resulting in a loss of a part of the stone, which results in waste (51). In such case, a corresponding frame would be provided below the block of stone (not shown).

Figure 2 - representation of an embodiment of a cutting tool (100) (top view) according to the present invention, allowing to obtain three pieces of stone. The cutting tool (100) comprises a single transversal cutting section (201), two inner cutting sections (202) and two flank cutting sections (203). The inner cutting sections (202) and the flank cutting sections (203) are parallel and thereby perpendicular to the transversal cutting section (201). Thus, such tool allows to obtain three pieces of rock with a substantially equal cross section.

Figure 3 - representation of an embodiment of a cutting tool (100) (top view) according to the present invention, allowing to obtain two pieces of stone. The cutting tool (100) is identical to that of Figure 2 except in that it has a single inner cutting section (202) thereby allowing to obtain two pieces of rock with a substantially equal cross section.

Figures 4a, 4b - these figures represent of the operation of an embodiment of the cutting tool (100) of the present invention, in side view. The cutting tool (100) is moved from a first position shown in Figure 4a (which corresponds to the release position, in the case of the press of the present invention) to a second position shown in Figure 4b (which corresponds to the cutting position, in the case of the press of the present invention). The imaginary lines (3) represent the direction of movement of the cutting tool (100). As can be seen from such representation, by having a free side [which is provided by the open edges of the inner and flank cutting sections (202, 203)], the operation of the cutting tool in cutting the block of stone (5) into several pieces results in no waste, as no chips are formed due to the free side. In such case, and for a press according to the present invention, a corresponding cutting tool would be provided below the block of stone (not shown).

Figure 5 - representation of three pieces of stone (55) cut from a block of stone (5) with the cutting tool of the present invention. In such case, the used cutting tool had two inner cutting sections. The pieces of stone (5) are represented, for a matter of simplicity, without depth. Vet, the solution of the present invention leads to obtaining pieces of stone which (55) which are three-dimensional.

Figure 6 - three-dimensional representation of an embodiment of a cutting tool (100) according to the present invention, allowing to obtain three pieces of stone. This embodiment corresponds to that of figure 2. It further represents a cutting tool base (204) into which the several cutting sections (201, 202, 203) are provided. The cutting tool base (204) comprises recesses (205) formed between the cutting sections which provide for the cutting of the stone into pieces. A press comprising two oppositely provided cutting tools (100) thereby allows to cut stone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The more general configurations of the present invention are described in the Summary of the invention. Such configurations are detailed below in accordance with other advantageous and/or preferred embodiments of implementation of the present invention. Several embodiments of the cutting tool of the present invention are described subsequently.

In several embodiments of the cutting tool, the cutting tool may be adapted by containing one or more inner cutting sections, thereby simultaneously cutting a block of stone into two or more pieces. The cutting tool may thereby cut a block of stone into n pieces, depending on the n-1 inner cutting sections, where n is an integer equal or larger than 2. In an inventive aspect of the cutting tool of the present invention, the transversal cutting section, the flank cutting sections and the inner cutting section are straight. Such allows to obtain substantially regular solids, such as cubes, rectangular parallelepipeds, or prismatic objects. In another aspect of the cutting tool of the present invention, the flank cutting sections and the inner cutting section form right angles with the transversal cutting section, thereby being parallel to each other. Such restricts the obtained pieces of stone to substantially regular solids such as cubes or rectangular parallelepipeds. Preferably, and in order to have a same result for all of the cut pieces of stone, the flank cutting sections and the inner cutting section have the same length.

For the same reasons, in an inventive aspect the spacing between an inner cutting section and a flank cutting section is equal to the length of the flank cutting sections and the inner cutting section.

In an embodiment, the cutting tool comprises a plurality of inner cutting sections, preferably two inner cutting sections, having equal spacings from each other and each of the flank cutting sections. Such is the solution of Figure 2, which allows to obtain simultaneously three pieces of stone. Further inner cutting sections may be added wherein, for n inner cutting sections, n+1 pieces of stone are obtained.

In an embodiment, the cutting tool comprises a single inner cutting section, preferably having the same spacing to each of the two flank cutting sections. Such is the solution of Figure 3, which allows to obtain simultaneously two pieces of stone.

To obtain pavement stones, each pavement stone corresponding to a cut piece of stone, the spacing between an inner cutting section and a flank cutting section is of 40-400 mm, optionally of 40-250 mm, optionally of 40-150 mm, optionally of 40, 45, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250 mm. Also, to obtain pavement stones, each pavement stone corresponding to a cut piece of stone, the length of the edge of each of the inner cutting section and flank cutting sections is of 40-400 mm, optionally of 40-250 mm, more preferably 40-150 mm, optionally of 40, 45, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250 mm.

In an embodiment, the cutting sections and respective edges form a single piece.

In an alternative embodiment, the cutting sections are separate elements.

In an embodiment, the cutting sections comprise, preferably are made of, a hardened metallic material, preferably steel. Several embodiments of the press of the present invention are described subsequently.

In several embodiments of the press, the press may be adapted by containing a cutting tool with one or more inner cutting sections, thereby simultaneously cutting a block of stone into two or more pieces. The press may thereby cut a block of stone into n pieces, depending of the n-1 inner cutting sections, where n is an integer equal or larger than 2.

The press may comprise a movable cutting tool and a fixed cutting tool, in which only the movable cutting tool moves, towards and away from the fixed cutting tool. In such case, the block of stone is provided in position to be cut which is adjacent to the fixed cutting tool.

The press may alternatively comprise two movable cutting tools, in which both move, towards and away from the other cutting tool. In such case, the block of stone is provided in a central position, which provides that it is cut into one or more pieces when the two movable cutting tools move towards each other, into the respective cutting positions.

The cutting tools may be provided perpendicularly to a surface in which the block of stone is provided, in a positioning which may be referred to as lateral (one cutting tool on the left, another cutting tool on the right).

Alternatively, the cutting may be provided in parallel to a surface in which the block of stone is provided, in a positioning which may be referred to as vertical (one cutting tool provided above, another cutting tool provided below, in which case the cutting tool provided below is preferably a fixed cutting tool, and which corresponds to the surface in which the block of stone is provided. In an embodiment, the press comprises a cutting tool with at least four cutting sections and respective edges are separate, not forming a single piece. The press further comprises a support, wherein such support comprises recesses in which each of the cutting sections may be provided. Thus, it provides that the number of cutting sections in a cutting tool may be changed in a simplified manner. For instance, a cutting tool may comprise two flank cutting sections, a transversal cutting section and an inner cutting section. In such way, the cutting tool provides for the cutting of a stone into two pieces. If the inner cutting section is removed from its recess, the cutting tool is adapted in a very simplified manner for the cutting of a single piece.

In an embodiment, the support is couplable to a base of the press. In an embodiment, the support may comprise through-holes in which coupling elements such as bolts may be provided, to couple the support and thereby the cutting sections to the base.

In an embodiment, the press further comprises a feeder, the feeder being configured to push a block of stone to a position in which it is cut by the cutting tools. Due to the format of the cutting tools, which allow to simultaneously cut one or more pieces of stone by press without waste, the feeder may be significantly simple, namely being configured to only push a block of stone along a single direction.

In a further inventive aspect of the press of the present invention, it further comprises control means, the control means being configured to:

- actuate the means for moving to move the at least one movable cutting tool between the release position and the cutting position and/or the cutting position and the release position, and

- upon the moving of the cutting tool to the release position, actuate the feeder to push a block of stone into a position concomitant with the cutting position. Such solution provides an automation of the process of the press, continuously pushing the block of rock upon moving of the cutting tool to the release position, and subsequent movement of the cutting tool to the cutting position. In an embodiment, the press is a hydraulic or a pneumatic press.

In a further embodiment, the press comprises means for constraining a block of stone, the means for constraining being configured to provide a lateral constraining of the block of stone, which is perpendicular to the direction of movement of the means for moving and to the direction of movement of the feeder.

In a further aspect of the present invention, it includes the use of the cutting tool of the present invention, in any of its embodiments, to simultaneously cut a block of stone into one or more pieces by pressing or for obtaining chipped pieces of stone.

In a further aspect of the present invention, it includes the use of the press of the present invention, in any of its embodiments, to simultaneously cut a block of stone into one or more pieces by pressing or for obtaining chipped pieces of stone.

As will be clear to one skilled in the art, the present invention should not be limited to the embodiments described herein, and a number of changes are possible which remain within the scope of the present invention. Of course, the preferred embodiments shown above are combinable, in the different possible forms, being herein avoided the repetition all such combinations.