Apparatus for loading pipes onto processing machines

An apparatus for loading pipes onto processing machines, in particular pipe-bending machines, is provided which comprises a handler arm (8) consisting of a first segment (9) and a second segment (10) disposed in succession, and kinematic members (12) adapted to determine a fixed ratio between the rotation angles of said segments about the respective hinging axes.

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an apparatus for loading pipes onto 
processing machines, in particular pipe-bending machines, comprising a 
support base, a handler arm associated with said base and provided at the 
end with grip members for holding a pipe fast, and drive means for said 
handler arm. 
It is known that in some types of processing machines intended to carry out 
machining on pipes even of great length, such as machines provided with 
appropriate pipe-bending heads and special movable mandrels having cores 
to be fitted into the pipes so as to cause displacement and rotation of 
the latter about their axes during the different operating steps, each 
pipe is required to be oriented horizontally and the end thereof into 
which said core is to be inserted must be placed substantially at the 
front portion of the pipe-bending machine. 
Therefore, each pipe must be picked up and moved from the station or 
magazine arranged for storing pipes in an orderly manner until the 
intended position close to the processing machine, by appropriate loadhng 
means or apparatuses. 
According to a first known technique, the pipe magazine is located at a 
position substantially in front of the pipe-bending machine at an 
appropriate distance therefrom, so that said loading apparatus must only 
carry out a mere translation of each pipe. 
However, this technical solution involves some drawbacks in that, if the 
pipe magazine is located close to the pipe-bending machine, said machine 
may undergo important operating restrictions since an appropriate room at 
the area in front of the machine itself is not available for receiving the 
pipe portions that have been submitted to bending. On the other hand, if 
the pipe magazine is located very far from the pipe-bending machine, 
availability of very wide operating areas is required, which is often 
inconsistent with a rational and economical management of the whole plant. 
In order to overcome the above drawbacks, according to a second known 
technique, the pipe magazine is disposed longitudinally in side by side 
relationship with the pipe-bending machine at an appropriate although not 
great distance therefrom. However, with this technical solution that, on 
the other hand, enables bulkiness in plan of the whole plant to be limited 
at most, employment of a loading apparatus is required which consists of a 
true robotized handler capable of picking up and moving each pipe from the 
magazine to the operating position required by the pipe-bending machine, 
that is in the extension of the front portion of said machine, in 
alignment with the axis of the machine mandrel. The handler therefore must 
grasp each pipe close to a front end relative to the pipe-bending machine, 
carry out overturning of the grasped pipe so that the front end becomes 
the rear end into which the core associated with the pipe-bending machine 
mandrel is to be fitted and finally translate or overturn the pipe again 
until a position at which the pipe is in alignment with the axis of said 
mandrel. 
The known art briefly described above however, has some drawbacks. 
Actually, the handler to be used for obtaining transferring and positioning 
of each pipe consists of at least two independent units each assigned to 
displacement of the grasped pipe about its own hinging axis. 
Each movement unit practically defines an independent apparatus requiring 
sensors of its own and control units suitably coordinated in order to 
obtain precise positioning to be repeated with a high-accuracy degree. 
Therefore, costs of such a handler are high and at all events its 
reliability cannot be completely sure because it is based on the presence 
of complicated control systems that are often subjected to a 
non-negligible percentage of failures. 
In addition, in the known art there is some rigidity as regards both 
possible deposit heights of each pipe in the magazine and the needed 
distance between the magazine and the pipe-bending machine. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Under this situation, the technical task underlying the present invention 
is to conceive an apparatus for loading pipes onto processing machines 
capable of substantially obviating the above mentioned drawbacks. 
Within the scope of this technical task it is an important object of the 
invention to conceive a pipe loading apparatus enabling a precise 
displacement of each pipe to a predetermined position to be obtained in a 
thoroughly reliable manner, thereby greatly reducing controls to be 
carried out, which apparatus is also of simple construction and limited 
costs. 
In addition, it is an important object of the invention to conceive a pipe 
loading apparatus enabling both the grasping height of a pipe from the 
magazine and the distance of the magazine from tihe pipe-bending machine 
to be maintained appropriate to the operating requirements usually 
present. 
The technical task mentioned and the objects specified are substantially 
achieved by an apparatus for loading pipes onto processing machines, in 
particular pipe-bending machines, wherein said handler arm comprises a 
first segment in engagement with said support base in a rotatable manner 
about a first hinging axis and a second segment disposed in succession to 
the first segment and in engagement with said first segment in a rotatable 
manner about a second hinging axis, and wherein said drive means comprises 
kinematic connecting means between the first and second segments for 
determining a fixed and pre-established ratio between the rotation angles 
of said segments about the respective hinging axes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference to the drawings, the apparatus of the invention has been 
generally identified by reference numeral 1. 
It comprises a support base 2 at the lower part of which a magazine 3 is 
provided which is adapted to receive pipes 4 in an orderly manner and in a 
horizontally-oriented arrangement, parallel to the extension direction of 
a mandrel 5 of a pipe-bending machine 6, of a type known per se, provided 
with an operating head 7 disposed at the front. 
Associated with the support 2, at the base thereof, there is a handler arm 
8 provided at the end with a grip member 8a capable of holding a pipe 4 
fast at a front end 4a by an appropriate locking action enabling movement 
thereof. 
The handler arm 8 comprises a first segment 9 in engagement with the 
support base 2 in a rotatable manner about a first hinging axis 9a 
oriented horizontally and a second segment 10 disposed in succession to 
the first segment and in engagement with the latter in a rotatable manner 
about a second hinging axis 10a. It is to note that the first segment is 
practically connected to a rotating element or flange, rotatably carried 
by the base 2 and suitably driven in rotation by drive means 11. More 
precisely, segments 9 an 10 are moved about their hinging axes by drive 
means 11 comprising kinematic connecting members 12 between the first and 
second segments, adapted to give rise to a fixed and pre-established ratio 
between the rotation angles of the segments themselves about said hinging 
axes. 
The first segment 9 and second segment 10 respectively have a first axis of 
longitudinal extension coincident with the second hinging axis 10a and a 
second axis of longitudinal extension 10b, perpendicular to the second 
axis 10a, both of rectilinear conformation. 
The kinematic members 12 comprise a drive shaft 13 of the second segment 10 
rotatably in engagement with the first segment 9 and defining the second 
hinging axis 10a. 
More specifically, the shaft 13 is fitted internally of the first segment 
9, preferably of tubular conformation, and comprises an end portion 13a 
integral with a starting end 10c of the second segment 10, and a starting 
portion 13b, disposed close to the first hinging axis 9a and associated 
with driving elements 14 for transmitting the circular motion of the first 
segment 9 to shaft 13. 
The driving or transmission elements 14 are defined by a pair of bevel 
wheels comprising a first wheel 14a integral with the starting portion 13b 
of shaft 13 and a second fixed wheel 14b, i.e. integral with the support 
base 2, and having a central axis coincident with the first hinging axis 
9a. 
Advantageously, the pair of bevel wheels 14 has a transmission ratio equal 
to 2, i.e. adapted to impose a rotation angle of shaft 13 corresponding to 
half the rotation angle carried out by the first segment 9 about the first 
hinging axis 9a. 
Preferably disposed on the second segment 10 is movement means 15 adapted 
to translate the grip members 8a along the second axis 10b, that is in the 
longitudinally extending direction of segment 10, according to strokes of 
controlled and adjustable amount. This movement means 15 comprises guide 
means, defined by one or two guide bars 16 for example, and an actuator, a 
fluid-operated cylinder 17 for example, active on the grip members 8a in 
the extension direction of said guide bars. 
Finally, the drive means 11 comprises an electric motor 18 and a 
transmission unit 19 disposed downstream of the electric motor and adapted 
to drive the first segment 9 in rotation about the first hinging axis 9a 
at a precise rotation angle of a predetermined value that, in the present 
application, is 180.degree.. It is advantageous for the transmission unit 
to be of a type capable of providing a fixed angular output rotation so 
that, practically, motion-control members are not required. 
Operation of a pipe loading machine described above mainly as regards 
structure is as follows. 
Initially, for picking up a pipe 4 from the magazine and holding it fast, 
the first segment 9 is oriented horizontally and the second segment 10 is 
disposed vertically downwardly (see FIG. 1). 
Due to the rotation imposed by the drive means 11, overturning of the first 
segment 9 through 180.degree. about the first hinging axis 9a occurs 
together with the simultaneous rotation through 90.degree. of the drive 
shaft 13 and thus of the second segment 10 about the second hinging axis 
10a submitted to overturning together with the first segment 9. 
The second segment 10 therefore performs a displacement that brings it from 
a starting vertical position to a final horizontal orientation (see FIG. 
3). 
Pipe 4, grasped at its front end 4a, describes a complex trajectory that, 
starting from an initial horizontal orientation passes through a vertical 
orientation when the first arm 9 is rotated through 90.degree. (see FIG. 
2) and terminates at a final position still having a horizontal 
orientation but overturned by 180.degree. and translated both transversely 
to the pipe axis and in the pipe direction, so as to put the hole of the 
front end 4a turned towards the mandrel axis 5 for carrying out the 
subsequent operating steps of the pipe-bending machine. 
It is to note that, at this point, the front end 4a engaged by the grip 
means 8a is at a position in front of the bending head and can be 
therefore easily engaged by mandrel 5 either if the pipe-bending machine 
has to carry out a core-free bending machining or if in the bending area 
there is the presence of a core. 
With reference to the last mentioned situation, it is to point out that, 
advantageously, the end portion 4a is at such a final position that it can 
be easily fitted on the core before bending is carried out. 
The movement means 15 practically enables the length of the second segment 
10, i.e. the distance of the grip members 8a from the second hinging axis 
10a, to be varied, and therefore allows this distance in an initial 
position to be reduced during the step of picking up the pipe from the 
magazine when the second segment 10 is disposed vertically downwardly and 
the same distance to be increased in a final position when the whole 
horizontal stretch included between the longitudinally extending axis of 
the first segment 9 and the mandrel axis of the pipe-bending machine is to 
be covered. 
The invention achieves important advantages. 
Actually, the circular movements of the segments forming the handler arm of 
the apparatus are determined in an univocal manner and are intrinsically 
connected with each other because they are imposed by mechanical members 
keeping a severe and reliable ratio between the rotation angles of the 
segments themselves. 
Therefore, additional control devices are not necessary in order to verify 
and coordinate the provided rotations of each handler segment. 
It is finally to point out that, since translation of the grip members on 
the second segment can be adjusted, employment of the apparatus is 
particularly flexible and adaptable to many concrete operating situations. 
Practically, the apparatus in question can be adjusted so as to pick up 
pipes from magazines located at different heights and to bring these pipes 
close to bending heads that are not rigorously at a predetermined distance 
from apparatus 1. 
In addition, by virtue of the particular movement imparted to the pipe, the 
minimum spaces required for installing apparatus 1 and the corresponding 
pipe-bending machine can be greatly limited. At the same time much room is 
obtained at the area in front of the pipe-bending machine so that, in the 
different bending steps, the bent portion of the pipe does not interfere 
with the apparatus. 
Finally, should the available spaces allow it, apparatus 1 can be installed 
to a relatively high distance from the pipe-bending machine, so as to have 
a great area at the back of the bending head, where the pipe portion 
already bent can be freely disposed without interfering with apparatus 1. 
This does not involve particular modifications to the kinematic mechanisms 
of the machine that, by operating with predetermined angular movements, 
are not affected by possible elongations of the grip members 8a (upon the 
action of the movement means 15) or possible modifications as regards 
length of segments 9 and/or 10.