Automatic carding machine for footwear uppers and the like

Automatic carding machine for uppers including a carriage upholding the upper to be scraped and travelling longitudinally along guides constrained to the top of the machine. The upper sector of the carriage runs on similar guides transversely. The movements can be performed simultaneously by means of independent activation members and the carriage translation speed as well as the upper sector are programmable so that the card can intervene in variable measure on the different peripheral parts of the upper arranged on the carriage. The tool or card automatically reverses its direction of rotation so as to roughen the back of the shoe from the outside toward the inside.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an automatic carding machine for footwear 
uppers and the like. 
Industrial manufacturing of footwear contemplates many operations performed 
on specific machine tools which execute for example preliminary cutting of 
the skin, hemming, trimming, etc. 
Among these various operations is included the so-called carding or 
scraping of the uppers consisting of progressive roughening of the back of 
the footwear along the marginal portions. To the back thus roughened is 
then glued the sole which must adhere perfectly to the upper. 
It is thus necessary that the marginal portions of the upper be 
appropriately leveled and made lumpy in order to create an optimal base 
for coupling and gluing of the sole. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The carding operation is conventionally performed by means of one or more 
rotating circular tools in the form of brushes with metal bristles or 
cards from which is derived the name of carder for the machine designed 
for this work. 
Known carding machines are structured in such a manner as to complete the 
carding through the movement of a carriage on which is arranged the back 
of the footwear and the tool-holder arm is provided with a brush which 
moves transversely or along a direction forming a certain angle to the 
axis of travel of said carriage. 
In some embodiments there is provided another tool-holding unit with 
associated brush, generally fixed, designed to remove excess glue and 
unsightly ripples in the upper present in particular opposite the toe and 
heel. 
Such carding machines have various shortcomings due mainly to the need for 
moving two members, i.e. the carriage which carries the upper and the 
tool-holding arm which carries the brush. 
Movement of the two members leads to considerable construction complexity 
of the carding machine. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above mentioned 
shortcoming. 
In accordance with the present invention this and other objects are 
achieved by a carding machine in which, in its general aspect, the back of 
the footwear being processed is moved only by a carriage on which it is 
fixed, the arm bearing the card is held fixed and the card is rotated with 
automatic rotation reversal. 
In addition, in the carding machine of the present invention the speed of 
processing of the various portions of the footwear back can be adjusted in 
accordance with processing requirements. 
The advantages achieved by the present invention consist in the first place 
of the fact that the complete machine is easy to manufacture. Operation in 
a more or less marked manner on the footwear back is possible by holding 
the tool positioned for a programmable time period at the areas where 
considerable rubbing is necessary. 
Reversal of the rotation direction of only the card also eliminates the 
need for moving the support on which the footwear back is fixed and the 
tool-holding arm.

With reference to the figures the improved machine for automatic carding of 
footwear uppers and the like indicated as a whole by reference number (10) 
comprises essentially a bed (12), a turret (14) which develops upward and 
a tool-holding unit designed to perform the carding or scraping operation 
on the footwear back and arranged on the top of said turret (14). 
Said tool-holding unit consists essentially of an arm (16) bearing at its 
free front end the card (18), a pair of motors (20) and (22) used for 
movement of the card (18) and its regulation in the vertical direction, or 
a compressed air cylinder (24) acting on said arm (16) and allowing 
adjustment of the pressure of the card (18). 
A pulley (26) connected to a motor (21) provides for initial inclination of 
the card (18) which, in the course of the scraping operation, is free to 
oscillate to adapt itself to the upper. 
The card (18) can be rotated clockwise or counter clockwise by the motor 
(20) and can automatically reverse its direction of rotation. 
Adaptation of the card (18) to the inclination of the footwear back takes 
place automatically, the inclination values of the axes being memorized in 
the central control unit of the machine but not illustrated in the figures 
because of known type. 
On the top (28) of the bed (12) are arranged two first parallel guides (30) 
preferably consisting of as many shafts or feed rods extended 
longitudinally and made integral with the base top (12) by supporting 
blocks (32). 
On the said guides (30) is arranged a carriage indicated as a whole by 
reference number (34) which runs thereon longitudinally along the X axis 
guided on ball bushings or the like (37). The carriage (34) is moved along 
the guides (30) by a motor (36) which, through the belt (40), activates a 
ball-recycling screw (31) supported on blocks (33) and the lead nut (35). 
The carriage (34) comprises an upper sector (34'). The upper sector (34') 
runs, in relation the lower portion, along a transverse axis perpendicular 
to that on which the carriage (34) runs. 
For this purpose, the top surface (41) of the carriage base is equipped 
with supporting blocks (44) similar to those indicated above by (32) 
provided with adequate seats for additional second guides (46) 
perpendicular to the first guides (30) and on which runs transversely 
along the Y axis the top sector (341) of the carriage (34). The carriage 
(34) therefore has a structure made up of two sectors arranged on two 
overlying levels of which the top sector (341) can be moved transversely 
along the Y axis simultaneously with the longitudinal travel along the X 
axis of the entire carriage (34). 
Transverse movement of the top sector (34') is achieved similarly to the 
movement of the carriage (34) along the X axis by means of a motor (48) or 
equivalent which through pulleys (50) and belts (52) activates a 
recirculating ball screw (47) supported by a block (49) fixed to the lower 
surface (42) of the carriage (34'). 
The carriage (34) and the top sector (34') are moved independently at 
adjustable, programmable speed in such a manner that the intervention of 
the card can take place in a variable and adjustable manner on the 
different peripheral portions of the upper. 
The carriage (34) comprises other members of known type (54) and (56) which 
provide for appropriate adjustments on the basis of the length of the 
upper to be processed and correct arrangement upward thereof. FIG. 3 also 
illustrates the complete unit which oversees blocking of the upper in the 
form of a clamp (58) as well as support (60) for the upper born by the 
plate (62). 
The adjustment members (54) and (56) and fixing members (58) and (60) are 
of known type and therefore are not described in detail in the present 
invention. 
Operation of the carding machine of the present invention is now described. 
The upper to be scraped is arranged on the support (60) and blocked by the 
clamp (58). The card (18) which intervenes on the entire periphery of the 
upper for appropriate smoothing is rotated by the motor (20). The carriage 
(34) is then made to travel along the guides (30) to progressively lead 
the upper under the card (18) in rotation. 
Simultaneously the upper sector (341) of the carriage (34) is moved along 
the Y axis travelling on the guides (46). This allows carding on both 
versants of the upper as well as on the toe and heel portions. In this 
phase, to have the back of the footwear always roughened from the outside 
inward, the card (18) automatically reverses its direction of rotation by 
means of its own motor (20). 
It is advantageously provided that movement of the carriage (34) and the 
top sector (341) thereof be programmable as to speed to allow the card 
(18) to stop for a longer period opposite specified points of the footwear 
back which require deeper scraping. 
Speed control is provided by an electronic control unit in which can be 
memorized a variety of programs for as many types of footwear backs 
dimensionally different and/or which require specific operations. 
The electronic programming control unit can be of any known type. As may be 
seen by the foregoing remarks the numerous advantages of the carding 
machine of the present invention are evident. 
The carding machine allows performance of planned and effective operations 
on the uppers optimizing processing times on the basis of possible 
variation of translation speed along the perpendicular X and Y axes of the 
carriage (34) which leads the footwear backs under the card (18). 
The machine also has characteristics of structural simplicity, the 
conventional movement of the arm bearing the card or brush for the 
scraping being eliminated. 
Particularly advantageous is the ability to reverse the direction of 
rotation of the card to perform roughening of the footwear back always 
from the outside inward. This setting, indeed, eliminates the need to 
rotate the entire support bearing the upper to be processed or move along 
an axis the card-holding arm or rotate it along the longitudinal axis. 
The invention as described and claimed is proposed merely by way of example 
and could be subjected to numerous modifications or variants all falling 
with in the scope of the inventive concept.