This application is a ยง371 National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/IB02103 640, filed on 10 Sep. 2002, claiming the priority of Italian Patent Application No. UD2001A000146 filed on 14 Sep. 2001 and Italian Patent Application No. UD2001A000174 filed on 31 Oct. 2001.
The invention concerns a bending machine for profiles, such as for example round pieces used for reinforcement purposes or similar, comprising at least a drawing assembly, first shearing means arranged downstream of the drawing assembly, second shearing means arranged upstream of at least part of the drawing assembly and bending means.
To be more exact, the invention is applied for bending and shaping straight bars already sheared to size, and able to form stirrups or other shaped elements for reinforcement purposes. The invention, selectively using the second shearing means located upstream of at least part of the drawing assembly, allows to eliminate possible working off-cuts and to discharge them in a position not dangerous for the machine operator and for the other operating assemblies of the machine.
The state of the art includes bending machines for profiles, such as round pieces used for reinforcement purposes or similar, single or in bundles, wherein the shearing means, usually consisting of a shears arranged downstream of the drawing assembly and upstream of the bending means, are able to shear said profiles.
When they are working bars pre-sheared to size, such bending machines have problems with regard to the discharge of possible working off-cuts, deriving from the difference between the length of the bar and the linear development of the stirrup formed.
To be more exact, once the profile has been shaped so as to form a reinforcement stirrup, a terminal segment of the bar may be in excess with respect to the stirrup obtained, and may remain at least partly gripped on the drawing assembly after shearing has been accomplished.
This sheared segment, or off-cut, then has to be discharged from the machine and in particular from the drawing means in order to start a new production cycle.
To discharge the off-cut, one conventional solution provides to include, downstream of the drawing assembly, at least a pair of ejector rollers; these rollers are able to intervene after shearing, so that the off-cut is expelled from the machine, thus freeing the drawing assembly.
With this solution however, there is the risk that the discharged off-cut might interfere with the bending means, arranged immediately downstream of the shears, or with other operating assemblies which can be present on the bending machine, compromising the correct functioning thereof. Moreover, this conventional solution does not guarantee sufficient safety for the machine operator, since the off-cuts thus discharged can hit him.
The present Applicant has devised and embodied this invention to overcome this shortcoming of the state of the art, and to obtain further advantages.
The invention is set forth and characterized essentially in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe other innovative characteristics of the invention.
The purpose of the invention is to achieve a bending machine for profiles, such as for example round pieces for reinforcement purposes or similar, wherein any possible working off-cuts are discharged in a position sufficiently distant from the operating assemblies of this machine, such as for example the bending means or suchlike, so that these off-cuts once discharged do not interfere with the correct functioning of the machine.
Another purpose of the invention is to reduce to a minimum the risk that these off-cuts might hit the machine operator when they are discharged.
The bending machine for profiles where the present invention is applied comprises a drawing assembly able to draw these profiles, first shearing means arranged downstream of the drawing assembly and bending means arranged downstream of these first shearing means.
According to a characterizing feature of the invention, second shearing means, such as for example a shears, are arranged upstream of at least part of the drawing assembly and are able to shear the profiles to size, before the bending cycle is started, so as to eliminate the off-cuts in advance, when there is a known difference between the length of the pre-sheared bar and the linear development of the stirrups to be formed.
In a first embodiment of the invention, wherein the drawing assembly comprises at least a pair of fixed rollers, the second shearing means are arranged upstream of said pair of fixed rollers,
In a first solution, the second shearing means are located distant from said pair of fixed rollers, for example in correspondence or in proximity with a bar-loading position. According to a variant, the second shearing means are located directly next to said pair of fixed rollers.
According to another embodiment of the invention, wherein the drawing assembly comprises at least a pair of fixed rollers and a gripper movable between a first bar-loading position and a second-drawing position cooperating with said pair of fixed rollers, the second shearing means are arranged either in an intermediate position between the fixed rollers and the movable gripper, or upstream of said movable gripper's bar-loading position.
In a further form of embodiment, wherein the drawing assembly comprises at least a pair of rollers movable between said loading and drawing positions, the second shearing means are assembled either next to said pair of movable rollers and move therewith, or distant therefrom in correspondence or proximity with said bar-loading position.
According to another embodiment, the drawing assembly comprises two groups of pairs of fixed rollers, a first group arranged in cooperation and upstream of the bending assembly, and a second group arranged upstream in correspondence or proximity with the bar-loading position. In this case, the second shearing means are arranged in an intermediate position between said two groups of pairs of fixed rollers.
According to a variant, said second shearing means are arranged upstream of the second group of pairs of rollers.
The off-cuts thus sheared by the second shearing means, according to a variant, are discharged inside collection means, thus facilitating their elimination.
According to a variant, these collection means comprise a container arranged upstream and below these second shearing means, so that the off-cuts fall inside through the effects of gravity and can thus be easily eliminated.
With the machine according to the invention it is possible to shear the off-cuts upstream of at least part of the drawing assembly and the bending means, thus eliminating the problem of possible interference with the latter. Moreover, the off-cuts are discharged without the intervention of ejector rollers positioned for this purpose in proximity with the bending means; this means that such rollers do not need to be installed, and prevents the off-cuts from being dangerous for the machine operator.
These and other characteristics of the invention will become apparent from the following description of some preferential forms of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example, with reference to the attached drawings wherein:
With reference to the attached Figures, a bending machine 10 for profiles 11 according to the invention comprises bending means 12 able to bend/shape the profile 11, first shearing means 13 arranged upstream of the bending means 12, and able to finish the bent profiles by eliminating the excess parts thereof, a drawing assembly 14 arranged upstream of the first shearing means 13, and able to make the profile 11 advance towards the bending means 12, and second shearing means 15, arranged upstream of at least part of the drawing assembly 14 and able to shear to size the profile 11 before the bending and shaping steps thereof.
The bending machine 10 is suitable to operate on straight bars, pre-sheared to size, with a length of for example 12 m, supplied from a store and/or fed by an automatic or manual feeder included for this purpose.
The machine 10 also comprises, downstream of the bending means 12, a second drawing assembly 16 to perform tail-end bends, and a retaining element 17 able to prevent the bent segments of the profile 11 from rising up with respect to an ideal plane.
The bending means 12 substantially comprise a central plate 12a assembled rotatable around a contrasting pin 12b. On the upper surface and in a substantially peripheral zone of the central plate 12a, a bending pin 12c is mounted, by means of which it is possible to accomplish, as shown, the bending of the profile 11.
The first shearing means 13 substantially comprise a shears and are able to finish the profiles 11 after they have been bent, that is, in the case of reinforcement stirrups, at the end of the bending/shaping process the excess is sheared from the trailing end, normally a few millimeters long, which protrudes from the geometry of the stirrup.
The machine 10 also comprises, as we have said, second shearing means 15, arranged upstream of at least part of the drawing assembly 14 and, in this case, also consisting of a shears. These second shearing means 15 are able to crop the pre-sheared profile 11 to a pre-set size according to the reinforcement element to be made.
For example, if it is desired to make stirrups for reinforcement cages using pre-sheared bars 11 with a length of 12 m, the linear development of said stirrups is about 11.20 m. Using these second shearing means 15, it is possible to shear off the last 800 mm in advance, and then proceed with the subsequent steps of feeding, bending and shaping.
The off-cut formed by this cropping operation is discharged, in the case shown here, into collection means 21, either by gravity, if these collection means are arranged upstream and below the shears 15, or by means of a suitable gripper member which picks up the sheared off-cut and deposits it into appropriate containers.
In this way, the discharged off-cut does not interfere with the bending means 12 or with drawing assembly 14 and does not need to use mechanical members to force the discharge thereof.
Moreover, the discharge does not entail any danger for the safety of the worker.
The drawing assembly 14, in the case shown in
In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiments shown in
In the further embodiment shown in
In the other embodiment shown in
It is obvious that modifications or additions may be made to the bending machine 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
For example, according to a variant, as we have said, the drawing assembly 14 may consist of only movable grippers able to make the profile 11 advance step-wise, or of combinations of grippers and rollers of a different type from those shown.
It is also obvious that, although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, a skilled person shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent embodiments of bending machine for profiles, all of which shall come within the field and scope of this invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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UD2001A0146 | Sep 2001 | IT | national |
UD2001A0174 | Oct 2001 | IT | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/IB02/03640 | 9/10/2002 | WO | 00 | 3/11/2004 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO03/024640 | 3/27/2003 | WO | A |
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6227026 | Mizukawa | May 2001 | B1 |
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1752716 | Jul 1971 | DE |
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0882529 | Dec 1998 | EP |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20040250591 A1 | Dec 2004 | US |