Patent Application
20240100644
The present invention relates to an apparatus for finishing surfaces, in particular surfaces having a complex geometry.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for finishing surfaces.
As known, in order to carry out the operations for finishing surfaces made of different materials such as pottery, wood, plastic materials, metallic materials, etc. in order to improve their shape, the accuracy of the measurement and their tribological properties, grinding machines or sanding machines are commonly used that are equipped with an abrasive element, typically an abrasive disc.
Normally, the sanding or grinding operations are carried out by hand by a worker who grasps a manual sanding or grinding machine, and moves the abrasive disc with respect to the surface to be finished. More precisely, in the machines of known type, the abrasive disc is constrained to a support, commonly known as “grinding cup”, which is moved by an electric motor, or by compressed air. Generally, a difference is made between orbital sander machines, where the abrasive member is moved, by the support, in order to cause more or less large circular movements, and roto-orbital sander machines, where to the orbital motion a rotating motion is added. In this way, it is possible to carry out a finishing of the worked surfaces of high quality.
Automatic machines are also known which provide a displacement device, for example an anthropomorphic arm, which is able to move the support and, therefore, the abrasive disc which is constrained to it with respect to the surface to be finished. An example of an apparatus of this type is described in EP3107686 in the name of the same Applicant.
The abrasive member can be constrained to the grinding cup, or more in general to the support, in different ways, for example by Velcro, or adhesive tape, or also by means of a threaded connection. Normally, the threaded connection is provided between a threaded blind hole made in the support, and a threaded shaft of which the abrasive element is provided at the face opposite to the face that, in working conditions, exerts the abrasive action. A very common type of threaded connection between support and abrasive disc, usually known in the technical field as “ROLOC” system, is, for example, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,968.
Both in case of manual machines and in case of automatic machines, not all the surfaces can be accurately and precisely finished. In fact, in the case of surfaces having a complex geometry that means comprising one, or more undercut zones, or portions with a different radius of curvature, some portions cannot be reached. In this case, therefore, it is necessary that a worker manually carries out the operation by using different abrasive tools in order to reach by hands the more secluded parts of the worked surface.
However, the aforementioned process is altogether very complex and difficult to carry out and is not able to guarantee high qualitative standards obtained for example by the aforementioned automatic machines.
Some apparatuses for finishing surfaces with the aforementioned drawbacks are for example described in US2006/111032, WO2019/123310, US2007/135028 and US2013/244547.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for finishing surfaces, in particular surfaces having a complex geometry, that allows to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art solutions.
It is in particular an object of the present invention to provide a similar apparatus that is highly versatile because able to finish surfaces having geometry that are very different from one another.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method for finishing surfaces, in particular surfaces having a complex geometry, having the aforementioned advantages with respect to the prior art methods.
These and other objects are achieved by an apparatus, according to the invention, for finishing a three-dimensional surface having a profile with a predetermined geometry, said apparatus comprising:
Other technical characteristics of the invention and relative embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.
Preferably, the aforementioned support body and the aforementioned shaped abrasive member can be, respectively, provided, at respective engagement surfaces, with respective engagement members configured to move from an engagement configuration to a disengagement configuration, and vice versa.
In particular, the predetermined shape of the aforementioned shaped abrasive member is obtained by a model designed by a design software, for example a CAD software, of the aforementioned surface to be finished.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned model can be designed on the basis of the geometry of the surface detected by a detection device, for example a video camera, or an optical device, in particular by a “Kinect” device.
Preferably, the raw member can be made of a material having a hardness lower than the hardness of the material of the aforementioned shaping member.
In particular, the aforementioned raw member can be made of a material selected from the group of:
In particular, the aforementioned shaping member can be made of a metallic material.
In a possible embodiment foreseen, the displacement device can be arranged both to move the raw member at the shaping station to obtain the finishing member and to position the finishing member at the surface to be finished and to move the finishing member with respect to the surface to be finished.
Advantageously, the aforementioned finishing member can be a diamond disc. In an alternative embodiment foreseen, the shaping member can have a substantially conical, or cylindrical, shape.
In particular, the raw member can have a substantially prismatic, or cylindrical, shape.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method for finishing a three-dimensional surface comprises the steps of:
The invention will be now illustrated with the following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, exemplifying but not limitative, with reference to the attached drawings wherein:
In the
In particular, at the shaping station 250 the aforementioned raw member 20′ can be arranged to be shaped in such a way to make an external surface 26 having a profile 25 with a geometry equal, or substantially equal, to the geometry of at least a first and a second face 101 and 102, advantageously of at least a first, a second and a third face 101-103 of profile 105 of the three-dimensional surface 100 to be finished.
As diagrammatically shown, for example in
According to the what is provided by the present invention and diagrammatically shown in
More precisely, the raw member 20′ and the shaping member 75 are moved one with respect to the other, in such a way to allow the shaping member 75 to shape the raw member 20′, in particular removing the excess material with respect to the desired shape, i.e. the shape with a profile 25 having a geometry equal, or substantially equal, to the profile 105 of the three-dimensional surface 100 in order to obtain the aforementioned finishing member 20. This is, therefore, arranged to be positioned, as anticipated above, at the surface to be finished 100 and to be moved with respect to it in order to carry out a predetermined finishing action, for example a sanding, a polishing, or a grinding, action.
More precisely, in the embodiments shown in the
Instead, if the finishing member 20, during the finishing action, is arranged to be rotated about its axis 120 by the displacement device 40, the aforementioned profile 105 of surface 100 to be finished is made on the raw member 20′ in such a way to be axially symmetric with respect to the aforementioned axis 120 (see figures from 6 to 8 and from 10 to 13).
In a first embodiment of the invention, diagrammatically shown in
In a preferred alternative embodiment of the invention, instead, the displacement device 40 moves the raw member 20′ at the shaping station 250 and, in case, moves the raw member 20′ same with respect to the shaping member 75 in order to obtain the finishing member 20.
In particular, with reference, for example, to
In a preferred embodiment, the shaping member 75 can be a tool configured to remove material from the raw member 20′ by mechanical contact. In particular, as shown in the
Alternatively, the shaping member 75 can be a device for subjecting the raw member 20′ to a specific treatment, in particular a thermal treatment and, therefore, able to remove the excess material with respect to the aforementioned predetermined shape with no mechanical contact with it. For example, as diagrammatically shown in
Advantageously, the support body 10 and the finishing member 20 can be, respectively, provided, at respective engagement surfaces 13 and 33, with engagement members 15 and 35 configured to move, from an engagement configuration to a disengagement configuration, and vice versa.
In particular, in an embodiment foreseen, the engagement members 15 and 35, can be arranged to carry out a snap engagement, for example by respective shaped surfaces (
In a further alternative embodiment, the finishing member 20 can be constrained to the support body, by a threaded coupling (
In particular, once that the finishing member 20 has been shaped as described above, it can be seen as a “three-dimensional finishing member”. More in particular, the finishing member 20 can have an external abrasive surface obtained starting from the aforementioned raw member 20′, having a substantially cylindrical, or substantially prismatic, or again a substantially conical, geometry, and reproducing on a portion of the external surface 26 a portion having a profile 25 equal, or substantially equal, al profile 105 of the surface to be finished. In particular, the external surface 26 has a profile having a shape that is complementary to the shape of profile 105. The finishing member 20 will have, therefore, in general, one, or more, protruding portions and one, or more, recessed portions, which match with the profile 105 of the three-dimensional surface 100 to be finished (see figures from 1 to 3, from 6 to 7, from 10 to 12, and from 14 to 19). In particular, the geometric shapes that can be obtained with the apparatus 1 according to the invention can be highly complex, in particular comprising at least one undercut zone and/or portions with a different radius of curvature (see for example
In a preferred embodiment diagrammatically shown in the
In a further alternative embodiment, the displacement device 40 can be arranged to translate the support body 10, and, therefore, the finishing member 20, with respect to the surface to be finished 100, for example according to a back-and-forth motion, in particular to cause the finishing member 20 to oscillate with respect to the surface to be finished 100.
In a possible embodiment of the invention, the shape of the finishing member 20 can be made on the basis of a model designed by a design software, in particular a CAD software. In particular, the aforementioned geometry can be obtained by the design for carrying out the surface 100, or can be designed on the basis of measurements of surface 100, or, even, can be obtained by a detection device, not shown in figure for simplicity, configured to detect the geometry of the profile 105 of the surface 100 to be finished.
In particular, in the case that the aforementioned shaping operation is carried out by mechanical contact between the raw member 20′ and the shaping member 75, the material of the raw member 20′ will have a hardness lower than the hardness of the material of the shaping member 75.
For example, the raw member 20′ can be made of a material selected between: felt, sponge, a material formed by non-woven synthetic fibres, in particular nonwoven fabric, a polymer formed by non-woven fibres selected from the group of: cellulose, nylon, or polypropylene, a material formed by non-woven synthetic fibres impregnated with abrasive granules, a material formed by non-woven synthetic fibres impregnated with abrasive granules of aluminium oxide and silicon carbide, a material formed by non-woven synthetic fibres impregnated with abrasive granules of titanium dioxide. Preferably, therefore, the finishing member 20 can be an abrasive member, but in general can be a member used to distribute an abrasive compound, for example an abrasive paste, on the surface to be finished 100. In both the cases, however, the finishing member 20 is moved, in particular by the displacement device 40, against the surface to be finished 100 to produce, preferably, an abrasive action.
The shaping member 75 can be, advantageously, made of a metallic material. In particular, the shaping member 75 can be a diamond disc, or can have a substantially cylindrical, or substantially conical, shape.
In an embodiment of the invention, the apparatus 1 can comprise a check station, which is not shown in the figure for simplicity, at which the presence is verified of the finishing member 20 at the support body 10. In particular, the aforementioned check station can be positioned between the removal station and the application station, to verify that the finishing member 20 is correctly removed before applying a new raw member 20′ on the support body 10.
As diagrammatically shown in the
In particular, the control unit 300 can be configured to cause a relative motion according to at least two degrees of freedom between the aforementioned raw member 20′ and the aforementioned shaping member 75. More in particular, the control unit 300 can be configured to operate on the basis of the predetermined geometry of profile 105 the displacement device 40 and/or the second displacement device 140 and/or the aforementioned secondary displacement device 85 at the shaping station 250 in such a way to reproduce the geometry of the profile 105 of the three-dimensional surface 100 to be finished at a predetermined portion of the raw member 20′ in order to obtain, this way, the finishing member 20, preferably comprising at least one portion with an external surface 26 having a profile 25 with a geometry equal, or substantially equal, to the geometry of said profile 105 of the three-dimensional surface 100 to be finished.
For example, the control unit 300 can be arranged to elaborate the data deriving from the model in digital format, for example the aforementioned CAD model, of the surface to be finished, or by the detection device to operate the displacement device 40, or the second displacement device 140, of the raw member 20′, and/or the secondary displacement device 85 of the shaping member 75, accordingly.
The foregoing description of a specific embodiment will so fully reveal the invention according to the conceptual point of view, so that others, by applying current knowledge, will be able to modify and/or adapt for various applications such an embodiment without further research and without parting from the invention, and it is therefore to be understood that such adaptations and modifications will have to be considered as equivalent to the specific embodiment. The means and the materials to realise the different functions described herein could have a different nature without, for this reason, departing from the field of the invention. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102020000030380 | Dec 2020 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2021/061581 | 12/10/2021 | WO |
