| EP0124650A2 | 1984-11-14 | |||
| EP0281343A2 | 1988-09-07 | |||
| US3833033A | 1974-09-03 | |||
| DE2019729A1 | 1970-11-05 | |||
| DE3147422A1 | 1983-06-09 | |||
| DE2921108A1 | 1980-12-04 | |||
| DE3407907C2 | 1989-06-22 | |||
| EP0456850A1 | 1991-11-21 |
| 1. | A method for machining elongated pieces of shaped section, in which method the workpieces (1) to be shaped are transferred one by one through at least one such machining station (2...10) which is capable of working a desired sec¬ tional shape on the workpieces by means of shaping units, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by the workpieces (1) are transferred in their longitu¬ dinal direction along a continuous path through the machining station,. |
| 2. | the workpieces (1) are worked by means of series arranged shaping units (2...10) which are adapted to be transferrable between a freeport position and a workport position, whereby each shaping unit set in the workport position is used for working only a single sectional shape onto the workpieces being transferred through the machining station. |
| 3. | A method as defined in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the shaping units (2...10) are transfer¬ red by mutually parallel movements between their free port and workport positions. |
| 4. | A method as defined in claim l or 2, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the shaping units (2...10) are transferred by such at least essentially linear movements between their freeport and workport positions that are aligned at least essentially orthogonal to the path of the workpieces (1) and the surface to be shaped. |
| 5. | A method as defined in claim 1...3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the shaping units (2 10) are arranged to both sides of the path of the workpieces (1) for working two sides of the workpieces in one pass. 11 . |
| 6. | A method as defined in any foregoing claim, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the workpieces (1) are transferred by an essentially linear movement through a continuous path formed by the shaping units (2...10) 5 appropriately set to their freeport positions or work port positions, respectively, whereby said continuous path is formed by free passageways and working passage¬ ways. |
| 7. | 10 6. A method as defined in any foregoing claim, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a single machining station is adapted to have so many shaping units (2.. |
| 8. | 10) in series as is the number of different sectional shapes, or combinations thereof, intended to be worked, whereby 15 all desired sectional shapes can be selected by setting the separate shaping units either to their freeport or workport positions, respectively. |
| 9. | A method as defined in any foregoing claim, 20 c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that during the working of each workpiece at least a certain number of the shaping units (2...10) are set to their freeport positions. |
| 10. | An apparatus for machining elongated pieces, said 25 apparatus comprising. |
| 11. | at least two shaping units (2...10) capable of longitudinally working a desired sectional shape on workpieces (1) and. |
| 12. | a transfer device (15) for moving the workpieces to 30 be shaped to the shaping units (2...10) for working and subsequent removal of said workpieces from said ' units after working, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a transfer device (15) is adapted to convey the 35 workpieces in a continuous longitudinal movement and. |
| 13. | each shaping unit (2...10) is transferrable between a freeport position and a workport position, whereby in its freeport position each shaping unit is adapted to freely permit the passage of the workpiece and, correspondingly, in its workport position each shaping unit is adapted to work only a single kind of sectional shape on the workpiece. |
| 14. | An apparatus as defined in claim 8, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the knives (14) of the shaping units (2...10) are set in a permanent manner. |
| 15. | An apparatus as defined in claim 8 or 9, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that each shaping unit (2...10) is comprised of a machining unit (14) with knives (13) per¬ manently mounted on a carriage (12) which is transfer rable in a linear movement at least essentially ortho¬ gonally to the path of the longitudinal movement of the workpieces (1) . |
| 16. | An apparatus as defined in any of claims 8...10, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the machining unit (14) incorporates a shaper. |
| 17. | An apparatus as defined in any of claims 8...11, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that in the workport position the working passageway of the shaping unit is delineated by a shaping knife (14) and a fence (15) situated opposite to said knife. |
| 18. | An apparatus as defined in claim 12, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the transfer device is comprised of drive wheels adapted to said fence (15) . |
workpieces.
The present invention relates to a method according to 5 the preamble of claim 1 for working elongated pieces into i shaped sections.
According to the present method, the pieces to be worked are transferred one by one through such a machining 10 station in which the pieces are worked longitudinally by means of shaping units so as to bestow them a desiredly shaped section.
The invention also concerns an apparatus according to 15 claim 7 for working said pieces into shaped sections.
Components of shaped sections (moldings) are used in various constructions and buildings, thus forming important components in such applications. The function
20 of components having shaped sections vary according to the type of door, window, hatch or similar hinged element attached to said shaped sections. The need for more complex shaped sections is further determined by number of elements closing against or otherwise abutting the
25 shaped section. A further contribution to the great number of shaped sections is imparted by the number of seals and slide surfaces per each hinged or attached hatch or door, window or similar element. Said workpieces can also be used for different types of moldings and
30 coverings of building seams as well as wall lining panels.
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When shaped sections are made of a solid material, e.g., wood, they are made with the help of a shaping jointer or 35 spindle-type wood shaper from continuous or cut-to-length stock in a machining unit having preset fences, guides and cutter knives in a certain setup and order. When a
new shape is desired to be worked in such an apparatus according to the prior technology, the position of the cutter knives, their shape and distance from the fences, etc. must be changed to correspond to the new shape. After setup, test runs must be performed to verify and calibrate the correct shape, before the new setup can be proofed. Very typical of conventional techniques is to arrange several cutter heads on a single spindle, whereby the position adjustment, that is, the height adjustment of the spindle makes it possible to bring a suitable knife setting to the elevation of the support table for working the desired shape. This further causes the drawback that the table surface supporting the workpiece must be kept relative remote from the revolving cutter head, because the support surface edge must be retracted sufficiently far from the spindle to allow the largest- diameter knife set to move past the table edge. In practice, such a support table arrangement limits the shortest length of workpiece to approx. 350 mm.
Industrial enterprises manufacturing products of shaped sections generally strive to operate with a limited number of shaped sections. Simultaneously, they aim at rapid deliveries and have no special desire to keep a fabricated product stored in their inventories. The machining apparatuses of the prior-art technology are ill suited to serve such goals.
The present invention provides a simple method and apparatus that can overcome the above-described problems.
The embodiment according to the invention is based on the use of such shaping units which can be set in two diffe¬ rent operating positions, namely, a free-port position and a shaping-port position. In the free-port position the unworked workpiece can pass the shaping unit without in any way touching the working tools of the shaping
unit. If the workpiece is made to pass the unit when it is set in the shaping-port position, the workpiece is imparted the section shape determined by the preset adjustments.
Thus, the basic concept of the invention is to change the setup by switching between the shaping-port and free-port positions of the shaping unit, rather than resorting to altering the setup by changing the position of the cutter head knives as is conventional in prior-art machining techniques.
More specifically, the method in accordance with the invention is principally characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 1.
Furthermore, the apparatus in accordance with the inven¬ tion is principally characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 7.
A free-port position in the context of this application refers to such a position of the machining unit in which a free passageway is formed for the workpiece to pass through the machining unit without getting in contact with the cursor head. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the passageway for the workpiece to go in the free-port position is formed between a fence member and guides spaced at a suitable distance apart from the fence member.
Correspondingly, the work-port position refers to a com¬ plementary position, that is, such a position in which the workpiece entering the machining station is forced to meet the cutter head. Advantageously, the workpiece is adapted to pass through the work-port passageway formed between the cutter head and said fence member.
According to the invention the travel of the workpieces is continuous, which means that they are not shifted laterally during working, but rather, they are moved rectilinearly forward with the help of a suitable transfer device. This is made possible by virtue of an exact adjustment of the free-port and work-port positions, whereby the pattern of subsequent free-ports and work-ports, respectively, forms a contiguous and continuous track.
In cases employing only single-sided working of the pieces along the track, the transfer device can be any kind of a conventional conveyor such as a band or roller conveyor along which the piece is transferred forward and which also performs as the support table for the work¬ piece during working. By contrast, in cases employing a double-sided working of the pieces, the forward transfer operation requires, however, the use of a transfer device comprised of, e.g., drive wheel with a drive mechanism. The function of such a transfer device is described in detail in a later exemplifying embodiment.
A shaping machining apparatus can have a multitude of the above-described shaping units in series, all of them preset for machining a certain shaped section. The automated setting of each shaping unit to the free-port or the work-port position, respectively, takes place by means of a preprogrammed control unit, even separately after each worked piece if so desired. During the working of each piece, at least a number of the shaping units is in the free-port position.
The travel paths of workpieces in all shaping units are parallel, more specifically, the units are moved ortho- gonally to the workpiece path and in a right angle to the surface being shaped. This arrangement makes it possible to configure a continuous, straight path.
When the number of above-described shaping units is, e.g., 9 units in series, a single shaping apparatus can be employed, to work up to 9 different basic shapes or combinations thereof by opening a desired number of free- ports and work-ports, respectively. This operation can be done in a continuous working process for a succession of workpieces so that at any time the shape can be altered, as mentioned above, even for each individual workpiece. Thus, each workpiece can attain its section individually shaped to any shape of the predetermined selection of shapes set for the successive shaping units. Such a change can be implemented by virtue of the method accord¬ ing to the invention without in any way impairing the throughput speed, and using the shaping apparatus, even at full speed provided that a sufficient gap is left between the successive workpieces travelling along the path.
The machining units can be arranged to both sides of the passageway of the workpieces to the end of working the pieces from both sides, whereby all units working the same side are arranged in succession.
All settings of the cutter heads in the shaping apparatus are fixed for a single shape of the workpiece section, and the apparatus is permanently mounted on a carriage which also incorporates said free-port. Said carriage moves between the open/closed positions, either permit¬ ting the free passage of the workpiece, or alternatively, performing the working operation on the workpiece.
Each shaping unit can naturally be provided with required cutter heads and desired settings to work a desiredly shaped section.
An apparatus according to the invention can be assembled from mutually identical shaping units by connecting a desired number of them in series.
The invention provides significant benefits. In addition to the advantages mentioned above, the settings of the apparatus are extremely accurate and may be performed quickly. A shaping unit according to the present inven¬ tion works with higher precision than a long-spindle unit of the prior-art technology, because the shorter spindle and the smaller mass rotated on the spindle exhibits reduced tendency to torsional and lateral vibration. The unsupported travel between the support table edge and the machining head is minimized in the apparatus according to the invention, thus allowing the working of pieces down to 150 mm length.
The apparatus has always a number of shaping units not performing a shaping operation on the workpiece being machined, so they are in the free-port position. For production of single workpieces this represents a seeming overdimensioning and overcapacity. Such disadvantages are, however, minor with respect to the option of extremely quick change of sectional shape.
The benefits of an apparatus comprised of an assembly of shaping units are particularly accentuated when short series or possibly only a single piece must be produced. Namely, despite the short length of the production batch, the production line can be run under a preprogrammed schedule (based on orders) just as in continuous mass production.
The price of a single shaping unit is cost-effective in comparison with such a shaping unit in which the spindle height is altered to attain a different sectional shape.
The invention is next examined in detail with the help of the appended drawing which diagrammatically illustrates the construction of an apparatus according to the inven¬ tion in a top view.
The travel direction of a blank 1 to be machined is from the right to the left in the diagram. The blank can be comprised of, e.g., the wood members of window sashes that are desired to be trued from two sides to produce a shaped section suited to assembled into a window sash.
The workpieces are fed in the assembly order of the sash, that is: lower rail, first stile, top rail and second stile.
The apparatus is assembled from nine shaping units in series numbered as 2...10 along the forward direction of the workpiece path. Each of the units comprises a carriage 12 movable on rails 11, whereby the carriage has the actual machining unit (truing unit 13) mounted on it that further incorporates a fixed or rotating knife 14. The setting of the knife 14 is adapted suitable for producing the desired sectional shape. In front of the knife 14, at a distance from it, on the same carriage so as to move along with the truing unit 13 is adapted another unit 15 having a fence system and a transfer device for the workpieces. The latter is comprised of drive wheels and their drive unit that provide the forward transport of the workpieces through the shaping unit. In a preferred embodiment according to the invention, the transfer device comprises an arrangement conventionally called a belt drive which has a set of three wheels forming a triangle, whereby two of the wheels are adapted parallel with the workpiece so as press against the workpiece through slots in the shaping unit, while the drive unit is connected to the third wheel. A belt (e.g., a toothed belt) adapted to run over the wheels then provides the forward transfer of the
workpiece. Another alternative embodiment dispenses with toothed belt, but instead, has the drive wheels coated with a high-friction material such as rubber or suitable polymer and placed to both sides of the unit 15. The attitude and distance of the fence system unit 15 rela¬ tive to the knife 14 is set according to the desired sectional shape and thickness of the workpiece to be machined, and these parameters can be changed when different stock is to be worked. Finally, to the front part of the carriage 12, in front of the unit 15, are mounted fences 16 comprised of metal arms, whereby the distance of said fences to the fence system unit 15 is also settable according to the stock thickness.
As is further evident from the diagram, the truing units 13 are adapted to both sides of the travel path of the workpiece 1. In this configuration the sets of units 2...6 and 7...10, both sets respectively truing one side of the workpiece, are arranged in series. The diagram shows the units 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 set to the free- port position, while the units 4 and 8 are set to the work-port position. In the units set to the free-port position, the blanks 1 travel via passageways formed between the transfer devices 15 and the fences 16, whereby the fences push the workpieces against the drive wheels of the transfer devices. In the units 4 and 8 set in the work-port position, the workpieces 1 travel via shaping passageways formed between the transfer devices 15 and the knives 14, whereby they are pushed against the knives by the transfer device 15 and thus are worked to the desired sectional shape.
After working, the workpieces are transferred forward for the assembly of sashes or further machining of joining portions to the workpieces.
As mentioned above, the components of the window sash are fed into the apparatus accurately trimmed to the desired length and in desired order of assembly, which benefit is facilitated by the invention that permits accurate machining of workpieces of appreciably shorter length than is conventionally possible in prior-art apparatuses.