Automatic learning apparatus for folding machine

An automatic learning apparatus for a folding machine which automatically measures a folding angle of a member to be folded in advance and stores driving data for the folding machine with respect to a desired folding angle. Thus, the same member to be folded is folded using the previously obtained driving data. Accordingly, the automatic learning apparatus can obtain such driving data with respect to the desired folding angle swiftly and accurately.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an automatic learning apparatus for a 
folding machine, and more particularly, to an automatic learning apparatus 
for a folding machine in which a folding angle of a workpiece to be folded 
is automatically measured in advance, and the workpiece is accurately 
folded using the measured data. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Various folding machines have been known for automatically folding a 
workpiece at a predetermined angle to conform to a particular use. The 
automatic folding machine includes a folding member for folding the 
workpiece by gripping the workpiece at a predetermined position and 
rotating the folding member to fold the workpiece, and a driving unit for 
causing the folding member to rotate. A folding angle of the workpiece is 
determined according to driving data applied to the driving unit. The 
driving data varies according to a shape or a material of a workpiece even 
when an identical folding angle is obtained. Thus, specific driving data 
which is applied to the driving unit is required in order to fold a 
particular workpiece at a predetermined angle. 
In prior art folding machines, a folding angle of the workpiece is manually 
measured by manually applying target driving data to the driving unit, and 
altering the driving data if the measured angle turns out not to be at a 
predetermined angle. This procedure is repeated until the workpiece 
achieves the predetermined angle. Thus, the driving data present when the 
workpiece equals the predetermined angle is used as the driving data for 
folding. 
The above conventional art has, however, a cumbersome problem in that 
folding angles are manually measured one by one in order to obtain optimal 
driving data. Also, since an angle is measured manually, the accuracy of 
the folding angle is lowered. Further, since the driving data is obtained 
manually or by trial and error, much time is needed to obtain the correct 
driving data before the workpiece can be folded. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
To solve these and other problems, it is an object of the present invention 
to provide an automatic learning apparatus for a folding machine capable 
of obtaining driving data automatically. 
According to one aspect to accomplish an object of the present invention, 
there is provided an automatic learning apparatus for a folding machine, 
comprising: 
a folder including a folding member for folding a transferred member to be 
folded and a driving unit for rotating the folding member; a rotation 
amount transferring member whose one end grips the end of the member to be 
folded and other end is coupled to a shaft of an encoder, for transferring 
the folding rotation amount of the member to be folded to the shaft of the 
encoder; and an encoder coupled to the folder, for measuring a folding 
angle of the member to be folded by outputting the rotation amount 
transferred from the rotation amount transferring member in a pulse form. 
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also 
provided an automatic learning apparatus for a folding machine, 
comprising: 
a folder including a folding member for folding a transferred member to be 
folded and a driving unit for rotating the folding member; a position 
detector attached to a rotary body of the folding member, including a 
plurality of position detection sensors each applying a detection signal 
with respect to a folding position of the member to be folded to a 
controller; and the controller having means for measuring a folding angle 
of the member to be folded using the detection signal applied from the 
position detector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail 
with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
Prior to describing the present invention, a prior art folding machine 
involving the present invention will be described below. 
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a folding machine disclosed in Korean 
patent application No. 95-16975 filed by the same applicant. FIG. 2 is an 
exploded perspective view of the essential elements of the folding member 
of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a side view shown from a direction of arrow "B" of 
FIG. 1. In the conventional art, a folding machine is typically used to 
fold a cutting blade. However, the automatic learning apparatus for a 
folding machine according to the present invention is not limited to a 
cutting blade as the workpiece or the member to be folded. As can be seen 
from the drawings, the conventional art folding machine includes a guide 
unit 200 for guiding a member 500 to be folded, a folding unit 300 for 
folding the transferred member 500, and a driving unit 400 for driving the 
folding unit 300. 
The guide unit 200 may include a guide nozzle 201 of a hollow structure 
configured to stably transfer the member 500 which may be passed through a 
cutting molding unit to the folding unit 300. The guide nozzle 201 
includes a guide passage 203 of a size such that the member 500 can pass 
through freely. 
The folding unit 300 includes a fixing body 310 connected to folding and 
rotary bodies 320a and 320b for the folding, which are installed on 
substantially rectangular shaped supporting frames 301a and 301b. The 
supporting frames 301a and 301b are situated spaced apart with an interval 
therebetween wherein the guide nozzle 201 can be situated. 
The fixing body 310 for the folding function is constructed by a folding 
body 313 having a guide slot 311 of a size through which the member 500 
can be passed, and by annular support portions 315a and 315b integrally 
installed on both ends of the folding body 313. 
The guide slot 311 of the folding body 313 is connected with the guide 
passage 203 of the guide nozzle 201 such that the member 500 may freely 
enter inside the guide slot 311. An end side portion of the guide slot 311 
is preferably formed of a slant side 312 to enhance the ability to fold 
member 500. 
The annular support portions 315a and 315b are provided to fixedly attach 
the folding body 313 to the supporting frames 301a and 301b, respectively. 
Also, the annular support portions 315a and 315b include guiding grooves 
316a and 316b of a round shape and round housing units 318a and 318b for 
rotatably housing the rotary bodies 320a and 320b for the folding 
operation. The rotary bodies 320a and 320b are configured to be rotatably 
housed within the round housing units 318a and 318b arranged on both sides 
of the fixing body 310. Also, the rotary bodies 320a and 320b have guide 
holes 323a and 323b pierced therein and are configured to be aligned with 
the guiding grooves 316a and 316b. 
The guide holes 323a and 323b are provided to insertably receive a folding 
rod 330 to facilitate movement thereof, and are configured corresponding 
to a cross-sectional shape of the folding rod 330. Although an example of 
two guide holes 323a and 323b is shown in the drawings, only one guide 
hole can be set at a time during the folding operation. The folding rod 
330 is dimensioned to connect the rotary bodies 320a and 320b to each 
other while being positioned on the outer sides of the supporting frames 
301a and 301b. Accordingly, the folding rod 330 is inserted through the 
first guide hole 323a of the first rotary body 320a, passes through a 
lateral side of the fixing body 310, and is inserted into the second guide 
hole 323b inside of the second rotary body 320b, and is capable of being 
moved upwards and downwards. The folding rod 330 inserted for mutual 
connection of the first and second rotary bodies 320a and 320b is provided 
for the folding work of the member 500, revolving together with the rotary 
bodies 320a and 320b. Meanwhile, when a folding work is not being 
performed, the folding rod 330 is completely apart from the folding body 
313 of the fixing body 310 and is moved towards an upper side. These 
operations are performed by the driving unit 400 described later. Here, 
although two folding rods 330 are shown in the drawings for exemplary 
purposes, only one can be set at a given time during the folding 
operation. Alternatively, one folding rod 330 may be provided and 
sequentially inserted on either side of folding body 313 through one of 
guide holes 323a to effect folding of member 500 in a given direction. 
The driving unit 400 includes a first driving unit 410 provided to revolve 
the rotary bodies 320a and 320b, and a second driving unit 420 provided to 
move the folding rod 330 upwards and downwards from the folding body 313. 
The first driving unit 410 includes first toothed portions 411a and 411b 
which are fixed in at both ends of the rotating shaft 418 which is 
rotatably supported within the supporting frames 301a and 301b, second 
toothed portions 413a and 413b which are set on the outer circumference 
surfaces of the rotary bodies 320a and 320b are configured to mesh with 
the first toothed portions 411a and 411b, and a servo motor M which is 
operatively connected to the rotating shaft 418. The second driving unit 
420 is a cylinder 421 connected with one end of the folding rod 330 to be 
moved upwards and downwards for the purpose of performing an expansion and 
contraction operation. Any operating source of the cylinder 421 known to 
one having ordinary skill in the art may be used, such as, for example, 
hydraulic pressure or pneumatic pressure. 
The operation of the folding machine having the structure as described 
above will be briefly described below. First, the member 500 is guided to 
the guide unit 200 and transferred to the folding unit 300. Then, the 
second driving unit 420 is made to operate. Thus, when only one cylinder 
421 of the second driving unit 420 which has been positioned at the state 
as shown in FIG. 3 is being descended, the folding rod 330 incorporated 
with the cylinder 421 is inserted into the guide holes 323a and 323b 
inside of the rotary bodies 320a and 320b and at the same time is 
positioned at any one side of the folding body 313 adjacent to the member 
500. Since the guide holes 323a and 323b are in alignment, the folding rod 
330 is inserted naturally when the cylinder 421 performs the falling 
operation. 
When the movement of the folding rod 330 to the position adjacent to the 
member 500 is completed, the first driving unit 410 operates. The first 
driving unit 410 is rotated by driving the servo motor M. By driving the 
servo motor M, the first toothed portions 411a and 411b are simultaneously 
rotated by means of the rotating shaft 418. By a meshing operation between 
the rotating first toothed portions 411a and 411b and the second toothed 
portions 413a and 413b, the rotary bodies 320a and 320b for the folding 
are rotated about a support point of the fixing body 310. When the rotary 
bodies 320a and 320b are rotated, the folding rod 330 connected therewith 
is also integrally rotated. That is, the folding rod 330 is rotated and 
moved around a periphery of the fixing body 313 along the guiding grooves 
316a and 316b from any one side of the fixing body 313 to perform the 
folding operation. At the same time, the moved folding rod 330 contacts 
with the member 500 which extends through the guide slot 311, thereby the 
member 500 is folded along the slant side 312 of the folding body 313. 
Here, the folding angle of the member 500 is determined according to the 
magnitude of the driving voltage applied to the servo motor M. 
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an automatic learning apparatus for a 
folding machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. As 
can be seen from the drawing, the folding machine of FIG. 1 is applied to 
the automatic learning apparatus for the folding machine of FIG. 4. Thus, 
the operation of the folding machine can be the same as earlier described. 
A base plate 600 is fixed on a support frame 301b of the folding machine. 
An encoder support member 700 is detachably attached on the base plate 
600. Thus, it is preferable that the base plate 600 is made of a magnetic 
material and a magnet is attached on the bottom of the encoder support 
member 700. 
The encoder support member 700 includes a rail support plate 710, a pair of 
rails 720a and 720b formed on the rail support plate 710, and a moving 
plate 730 on which an encoder 800 is fixed, wherein the moving plate 730 
is engaged with the rails 720a and 720b to be slidably connected along the 
rails. 
The longitudinal direction of the rails 720a and 720b is the same as a 
transferring direction of the member to be folded (i.e., the longitudinal 
axis defined by guide passage 203). 
The encoder 800 is attached to the moving plate 730 so that a rotating 
shaft 810 faces upwards. The output of the encoder 800 is input to a 
controller 100. It is to be appreciated that the encoder 800 may be any 
conventional device known to one having ordinary skill in the art for 
converting the angular position (e.g., in degrees) of the rotation amount 
transferring member 900 to an electrical signal representative of such 
angular position. For example, a conventional sine/cosine potentiometer 
may be used to provide such signal to the controller 100. An 
analog/digital converter (not shown) may be used to convert the signal to 
digital form. 
A rotation amount transferring member 900 is connected between the shaft of 
the encoder 800 and the end of the member 500 to transfer the folding 
rotation amount of the member 500 to the encoder 800. 
The rotation amount transferring member 900 is arranged in a direction 
substantially perpendicular to the member 500, and includes a grip portion 
920 and a connection bridge 910. The grip portion 920 grips the folding 
member at one end thereof and connects the other end thereof to a 
connection bridge 910. The connection bridge 910 is arranged in a 
direction substantially parallel with the member 500, in which one end 
thereof is associated with the grip portion 920 and the other end thereof 
is fixed on the rotating shaft 810 of the encoder 800. 
The grip portion 920 is connected to the connection bridge 910 and will be 
moved according to the amount of movement of the folding member along the 
longitudinal direction of the connection bridge 910. Since such a 
structure may be implemented by combination of a spline shaft which is 
obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, the detailed description 
thereof will be omitted. Also, a slot 922 through which the member 500 
passes is formed in the grip portion 920. An elastic spring (not shown) is 
incorporated in the slot 922, to elastically support the member 500. 
An operation of the illustrative automatic learning apparatus for the 
folding machine according to the present invention having the above 
structure will be described in more detail. The automatic learning 
apparatus for the folding machine according to the present invention aims 
at obtaining driving data to find out an accurate folding angle before 
folding a large number of workpieces in the same pattern. Thus, the 
operation of the present invention will be described until the driving 
data is obtained. 
First, predetermined driving data is applied to a servo motor M. Then, as 
described above, the folding rod 330 rotates at a predetermined angle 
according to the applied driving data. Thus, the member 500 is folded at 
the same angle. In this case, the rotation amount of the member 500 (i.e., 
the folding angle) makes the encoder 800 rotate via the rotation amount 
transferring member 900. 
Therefore, the encoder 800 applies a pulse corresponding to the rotation 
amount to the controller 100. The controller 100 recognizes the number of 
the pulses applied from the encoder 800 to calculate the folding angle. 
When the member 500 is folded at a desired angle, the driving data is 
recorded in a memory (not shown) incorporated in the controller 100. 
FIGS. 5A to 5C are views for explaining movement of the rotation amount 
transferring member and the encoder of the illustrative automatic learning 
folding machine according to the present invention. FIG. 5A shows the 
state of the member 500 prior to being folded. FIG. 5B shows the state 
where the member 500 is folded at an angle .theta..sub.1. FIG. 5C shows 
the state where the member 500 is folded at an angle .theta..sub.2. As can 
be seen from the drawings, the state before the transferred member 500 is 
folded is shown in FIG. 5A. When the member 500 is folded at a desired 
angle .theta..sub.1, the state of the member 500 becomes the same as that 
of FIG. 5B. 
As described above, when a member is folded at a predetermined angle, the 
encoder 800 and the grip portion 920 of the rotation amount transferring 
member do not need to move in a lateral direction. 
However, when the member 500 is folded at a rounded angle as shown in FIG. 
5C, the encoder 800 moves to an X-direction and the grip portion 920 of 
the rotation amount transferring member 900 moves to a Y-direction 
according to the movement of the member 500 in order to obtain a desired 
angle .theta..sub.2. 
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an automatic learning apparatus for a 
folding machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
In this embodiment, since the same reference numerals are used with 
respect to the same elements as those of the FIG. 4 embodiment, the 
description related thereto will be omitted. As can be seen from FIG. 6, 
the automatic learning apparatus for the folding machine includes a 
position detector 1000 which is detachably fixed to the rotary body 413b 
of the folding member. 
The position detector 1000 has a predetermined length, one end of which is 
fixed to the upper surface of the rotary body 413b, and rotates together 
with the rotary body. Further, the position detector 1000 includes a 
plurality of position detection sensors 1110, 1120 and 1130 along the 
longitudinal direction thereof. 
The operation of the automatic learning apparatus for the folding machine 
according to this embodiment of the present invention having the above 
structure will be described below in more detail. First, the controller 
100 sends a signal to drive the second driving unit 420 to allow the 
cylinders 421 to be activated as described above. Then, the folding rods 
330 are positioned in both ends around the member 500. Next, the 
predetermined driving data is applied to the first driving unit 410 to 
rotate the folding rod 330 at a predetermined angle. Thus, the member 500 
may be folded at the same angle as shown as a dotted element in the 
drawing. 
The above operation is the same as that of the first embodiment. Then, the 
second driving unit 420 operates to make the folding rod 330 return to the 
original position. Also, the controller 100 controls the first controller 
410 again to then rotate the rotary body 413b. Therefore, the position 
detection sensor 1000 fixed to the rotary body 413b rotates to thereby 
detect the folded position of the member 500. The signals detected by the 
detection sensors 1110, 1120 and 1130 of the position detector 1000 are 
applied to the controller 100. The controller 100 measures a folding angle 
of the member to be folded using the detected signals and the data applied 
to the driving motor. If the measured angle corresponds to a desired 
folding angle, the driving data is recorded in a memory in the controller 
100. 
As described above, the automatic learning apparatus for the folding 
machine according to the present invention automatically measures and 
stores the driving data applied to the driving units in order to obtain a 
desired folding angle accurately with respect to the member for the 
folding of the same material before the member is actually folded. Thus, 
an error of the folding angle when folding a member of the same material 
can be avoided, and the driving data for folding can be swiftly and 
accurately obtained. 
While only certain embodiments of the invention have been specifically 
described herein, it will be apparent that numerous modifications may be 
made thereto by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit 
and scope of the invention. All such modifications are intended to be 
included within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended 
claims.