BRUSH-MANUFACTURING MACHINE

Abstract: Brush-manufacturing machine of the type equipped with a drum (1) for the transportation of the brush bodies (2) along the various processing stations, having the characteristic that the drum (1) is equipped with brush body holders (12-13-14-15) which at least at their clamping sides facing the brush bodies (2) can be revolved and/or removed from their respective sides with which they work in concert with the drum (1).

Description: This invention concerns a brush manufacturing machine, of the type comprising a rotatable drum, having side faces parallel to the rotation axis, for the transportation of brush bodies to different processing stations, a plurality of brush body holders arranged pivotably on said faces of the drum and means for pivoting said brush body holders with respect to the drum. It is generally known that brushes are manufactured by providing brush bodies with perforations and subsequently planting bundles of fibres in these perforations. During this processing the brush bodies must of course be clamped. Consequently automatic brush manufacturing machines exist whereby the brush bodies are successively inserted in different brush body holders in order to execute the respective processing operations, e.g. loading of new brush bodies, perforating, filling, cutting, cleaning etc. It is obvious that repeated removal of the brush bodies from the brush body holder and subsequently replacing them in another. brush body holder is a time-consuming operation. As a result thereof it is moreover impossible to guarantee a perfect positioning of e.g. the perforated brush body before the filling device, after the transfer, so that the possibility arises that bundles of fibres are not placed perfectly in the middle of the previously perforated holes. This has lead to the development of machines in which a drum is used around the circumference whereof brush body holders are positioned so that the latter, by turning the drum, can be placed opposite the respective processing equipment positioned around the drum so that the brush body remains in the same brush body holder during perforating, filling and any other processing operations. The presently known brush-manufacturing machines or the drum type however have the disadvantage that to each brush body holder, or, for instance in the case of a double machine, for every two brush body holders, which is, respectively are, fixed onto the drum, the necessary movements, such as translations, rotations and combinations thereof following the longitudinal and latitudinal axis of the brush holder, as well as the so-called depth compensation movement, must be provided in order to be able to position the bush bodies before the processing equipment according to the required pattern. The result thereof is, that the drum base has a very complicated construction because the mechanism enabling all these movements must be provided several times, i.e. at least as many times as there are provided several times, i.e. at least as many times as there are processing tools positioned around the drum. An additional disadvantage is for instance that, opposite certain processing equipment the brush body must not be moved so that at this moment the moving possibility at this station must be eliminated. Thus, during a large part of the cycle, the mechanism described above is not working (e.g. to load brush bodies while the machine is perforating and filling) and consequently during this period of time the mechanism is not used. A machine of this kind is disclosed in GB-A-1 397 058. Brush body holders are pivotably mounted on the faces of the drum around axes perpendicular to the rotation axis of the drum. Each holder comprises a frame pivoting on the drum and two brush body supports pivotably mounted on each frame and carrying a brush body. This mounting of the holders on the drum and the body supports on the frame of the holders permits of an exact positioning of the brush bosies but does not permit neither the holders nor their frames to move away from the drum towards a processing station. The holders always remain in their circular transportation path. The purpose of this invention consequently is a brush-manufacturing machine which systematically excludes the above mentioned disadvantages. To this effect the means for pivoting said brush body holders are means for hinging said brush body holders away from the corresponding face about an axis of rotation parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum from a first position along the face and opposite one processing station for a first position of the drum to a second, outwardly directed position and opposite a second processing station adjacent the first processing station for a following position of the drum, so that for each position of the drum two brush body holders are simultaneously arranged opposite two succesive and adjacent processing stations. Several brush body holders, and the respective brush bodies clamped therein from which at least two are to be presented to different but consecutive processing stations, can be brought into the same processing plane or parallel processing planes opposite to adjacent processing stations, so that during perforating and filling only one positioning mechanism need be provided to provide the various perforations and insert the bundles of brush hairs, respectively. The positioning mechanism can also perform the movement of the drum vis-a-vis the perforating and filling equipment. DE-A-1 632 361 also discloses a brush-manufacturing machine with movable brush body holders but said holders are mounted on arms which rotate around an axis. For exact positioning said holders are rotatable in a limited way with respect to said arms. BE-A-506 986 discloses a brush manufacturing machine wherein brush bodies are clamped between jaws on the links of a chain and are transported linearly along processing stations. In a particular embodiment of the invention the means for hinging said brush body holders comprise means for hinging each brush body holder so that in said following position of the drum it is outwardly directed in the same processing plane as the preceding brush body holder. With a view to better show the characteristics of the invention, hereafter follow, as examples, having no restrictive character, some preferential applications with reference to the attached drawings, where : Figure 1 shows schematically the brush manufacturing machine according to the invention; figure 2 shows a variant of the invention; figure 3 through 5 explain the difficulties when perforating and filling at an angle; figure 6 gives another schematical variant of the invention. The brush-manufacturing machine according to figure 1 mainly consists of a drum 1 onto the circumference whereof brush bodies 2 can be fitted whereby these are placed on drum 1 via a schematically indicated feed 3, then are presented under a perforating installation 4 and a filling device 5 and whereafter the manufactured brushes leave drum 1 via the schematically indicated discharge 6. In this application drum 1 has a square section. However, there is no reason why this drum should not be triangular, polygonal, endless loop, chain or otherwise. The particularity of the invention now is that the brush body holders can be revolved away from the outside of drum 1. To this effect in the application according to figure 1 a square drum base 7 was used which at its respective side faces 8 through 11 is equipped with brush body holders 12 through 15 which at one of their edges can be revolved away from side faces 8 through 11 by means of hinges 16 through 19. In this application the axes of rotation 20 through 23 of the hinges are parallel with the axis of rotation of drum 1. Further the installation is also equipped with drive gear and/or guidings in order to have brush body holders 12 through 15, as further described below, make correct hinge movements around axes of rotation 20 through 23. As the nature of these drive gears and guidings is arbitrary and can be easily realised by an averagely schooled workman they are not shown in the figures for clearness' sake. The working of the brush-manufacturing machine according to figure 1 can be seen easily from the figures. Brush bodies 2 are successively placed onto drum 1 via feed 3, are perforated after revolution thereof through 90 degrees, at the following revolution through 90° the perforations are filled with bundles of brush hairs and finally after a total revolving of 270 degrees the brush bodies are removed at removed at discharge 6, at which stage the brushes are manufactured. From figure 1 it can be seen that the brush body holders, in the position in which they are presented to filling device 5 are brought in their outwardly hinged position. In the position according to figure 1 this is the brush body holder 14 which is pivoted through 90 degrees. Since hinges 16 through 19 are placed on the vertex of drum base 7, the brush body holders, in this case brush body holders 13 and 14, placed before perforating installation 4 and the filling device 5 are disposed in the same plane, with the advantage that, to provide the respective perforations 25 and insert the bundles of fibres 26 in brush bodies 2, the brush bodies which have to be perforated and filled can be positioned opposite the perforating and filling installation by one and the same positioning installation. This positioning can also be realised by making the drum 1 to carry out both a rotary and a translational movement by a mechanism which is not shown. It is clear that feed 3 and discharge 6 of brush bodies 2 can be fully automatic. In figure 2 a variant of the brush-manufacturing machine according to the invention is shown following which the bundles of fibres 26 can be planted in the brush bodies under different angles. For this purpose each hingable brush-body holder 12 through 15 is in its turn also equipped with a revolving element 27 whereby each element 27 can revolve around an axis. Each revolving element 27 hereby mainly consists of a worm wheel or worm wheel segment 28 in which a fixed or radially adjustable brush body support 29 is equipped with the necessary clamping devices for the bodies 2. The worm wheel segments 28 are coupled to worm shafts 30, the whole being mounted on a base plate 31, while the various base plates 31 are hingable respectively around the above mentioned axes of rotation 20 through 23. The drive of the worm shafts 30 can of course be provided in different ways. Preferably the respective worm shafts 30 shall be situated in such a way that by a 90 degree revolving of a brush body holder the worm shafts 30 of two successive brush body holders engage together via the coupling ends 32 and 33 provided therefor. In the given example worm shafts 30 of brush body holders 13 and 14 are consequently coupled to each other. The worm shafts 30 are in their turn driven by means of a drive shaft 34 of a motor 35, for instance a servo motor. Another application could be for instance that the revolving elements 27 consist of a gear wheel or a gear wheel segment which works in concert with a slot. This slot can then for instance work in concert with a servo mechanism to obtain a revolving of the segments. A solution could consist in placing of a sensor at the level of the perforating and filling station which selectively detects the positioning of the perforating and filling device with regard to the brush body and, dependently from this detection determines the depth movement, i.e. the distance between brush body and processing tools instead of laying it down beforehand in a program. The depth movement in regard of the perforating and filling station must of course occur independently from each other since the brush body must first be perforated and then filled. Or, while a brush body is perforated and filled, the next brush body to be perforated must be scanned and the information obtained from this scanning, when moving the brush body to the perforating station, must be transferred with it for the determination of the perforating depth and must subsequently again be transferred to control the depth of the perforation, i.e. the difference between the tilling device and the brush body. If necessary, the perforating movement can in certain cases always keep the same depth movement, i.e. as pre-programmed in advance since a small variation of the depth of the perforations causes less problems than for the filling. To realise this the perforating installation and the filling installation must thus each be positioned so that they can be moved separately with regard to the brush holders before them and vice versa. In this case, for instance, the perforating and filling installations can each be mounted on a slide driven by servo as described above. These servos are then driven by known drives (e.g. CNC) in order to obtain the desired perforation pattern. This perforation pattern is consequently pre-programmed, the program containing all information to position the brush bodies before the perforating and filling installation. One of the movements thus programmed is the so-called depth compensation movement which moves the brush bodies of the processing unit (perforating and filling) from or towards the processing units. If now there is an irregularity on the surface of the brush body to be perforated and filled, this can lead to disturbances. An irregularity means here that on said surface, for instance, there is a protuberance or a local sinking (which is very often the case with synthetic brush bodies) which has as a consequence that the perforating and/or filling equipment will be too close or too far from the brush body at those places where these irregularities occur with the consequence that a perforation is too deep or not deep enough and that a bundle of fibres will be planted too deep or badly or that this bundle will already be disintegrated before it is placed in the perforated hole because for instance the filling device, in the case of a local sinking, is situated too far from the brush body to form a proper transfer when placing the bundle of fibres in the perforation, so that the bundle drops between the filling device and the brush body or misses the perforation. This is fully the result of the pre-programmed depth compensation which was programmed on one particular brush body and certainly could not foresee any irregularities in the surface as described above. The working of the installation can be seen from the figure and mainly consists in the placing of brush bodies 2 in the brush body support 29 via feed 3, whereafter by revolving the drum 1 these are respectively positioned before perforating installation 4 and filling device 5. The worm shafts 30 of the brush body holders 13 and 14 which are in front of this equipment here fit into each other and are driven by for instance a servo motor 35. By transmission between the worm shafts 30 and worm wheel segment 28 the brush bodies 2 can be presented simultaneously under different angles. The discharge 6 of brush bodies 2 occurs as described above. In this case also drum 1 shall be positioned in such a way that it can execute translation, rotation and/or combined movements with regard to the equipment positioned around it, to which effect the necessary drives are of course provided. The latter can for instance be formed by all possible servo systems, such as DC and alternating current servo motors, stepping motors, hydraulic linear amplifiers, hydraulic torque amplifiers, so-called linear motors or linear stepping motors, ordinary alternating current motors with the necessary controls which make possible the positioning with such motors, etc. If, as mentioned above, the drum is capable of carrying out both rotary and translational movements and the elements of which are mounted on the brush body holders 12 to 15 are also capable of a rotary movement, then a very special construction is obtained, the advantages whereof will appear from the following description of figures 3 through 5. Indeed, from figures 3 and 4 it follows clearly that if for two brush bodies 2 one wishes to place brush bristles at the same spot A but under different angles brush bodies 2 which are clamped in the brush body holders must be able to rotate about different radii R1 and R2, at least if the drill head or the filling device are in a fixed position. Figure 5 shows that by providing a displacement V of the brush body holders the result is obtained that at any point A of brush body 2, for any angle, a perforation and filling can take place without having to displace the turning point O (in other words R2>R1). In the application according to figure 2 this advantage is offered by, on the one hand, the use of revolving elements 27 and, on the other hand, the translation movements of drum 1. If necessary the brush body supports 29 can in addition be radially slidable and positionable vis-a-vis worm wheel segment 28. It goes without saying that drum 1 according to the applications of figures 1 and 2 makes nearly continuous movements during the brush manufacturing process, whereby these movements can consist of translations, rotations and combinations thereof according to the longitudinal and latitudinal axes of the brush bodies, for instance as shown in figures 3 through 5, as well as a depth compensation movement in order to successively present brush bodies 2 with all their places where perforations 25 and bundles of fibres 26 must be inserted before the respective perforating installation 4 and the filling device 5. Independent from the fact whether one possesses a fully automated feed 3 and discharge 6 of the brush bodies 2, respectively the manufactured brushes, inconveniences can be caused because the positioning and removal of brush bodies 2 in the brush body holders 12 through 15 is hindered since they move continuously. Consequently in figure 6 a variant of the invention is given which offers a solution to this problem. The brush body holders 12 through 15 here each consist of a combination of a revolving element 27 and base plates 31 which can respectively hinge around axes of rotation 20 through 23. The revolving elements 27 can be removed from the base plates 31. Drum 1 is mounted on a slide 36 and apart from its rotation movement it can make a translation movement between the limit positions C and D. Next to drum 1, more particularly at the height of perforating installation 4 and filling device 5 a pillar 37 is provided which is parallel with, on the one hand, brush body holder 13 which works in concert with side 9 of drum 1 and the extended brush body holder 14. Drum 1 and pillar 37 are designed in such a way that by bringing slide 36 in position D the revolving elements 27 can be transferred to pillar 37, whereafter slide 36 can move back to position C together with drum 1. Thus a situation as in figure 6 is obtained. It should further be noted that pillar 37 is of course equipped with the necessary clamps 38 to retain the revolving elements 27. Further drives are provided, such as a worm shaft 39, to drive the revolving elements 27. Pillar 37 itself now executes the movements which, as described above, are normally executed by drum 1 in order to properly bring brush bodies 2 in front of the perforating installation 4 and filling device 5 Drives to move and position elements are known as such and are not handled further here. It should however be noted that it is not necessary to provide a separate worm shaft 39 in pillar 37 but that it is also possible to use worm shafts 30 as in the embodiment of figure 2, whereby these are mounted on base plates 31 together with revolving elements 27 and whereby, while integrated in pillar 37, they can mutually work in concert at their ends. The working of the installation can easily be seen from figure 6. Here at the place where brush body holder 12 is shown the feed 3 of a brush body 2 is provided. However, feed 3 can, according to the variant, also take place where brush body holder 15 is shown. Subsequently drum 1 is revolved 90 degrees bringing slide 36 in position D. In this way revolving element 27, into which brush body 2 was clamped between pillar 37, whereby it is attached onto pillar 37 by means of clamps 38 and is automatically removed from the appropriate base plate 31. While on pillar 37 the perforating of the appropriate brush body 2 takes place slide 36 is moved back to position C so that on the immobile drum 1 on the upper side again a feed of new brush bodies 2 can be provided from reserve 40. Then slide 36 is brought back to position D whereby revolving element 27 which is positioned opposite perforating installation 4 is again coupled to the appropriate base plate 31. Slide 36 then moves slightly to the left, in other words away from pillar 37, whereafter the drum 1 again rotates 90 degrees, the brush body holder which clamps brush body 2 then coming at the lower side of the drum 1 and, as shown in the figure, is hinged downward - away from drum 1. With the rotation of drum 1 also the last brush body 2 which is introduced is positioned in front of perforating installation 4. By now moving slide 36 back to the right the two revolving elements 27 which are respectively in front of the perforating installation 4 and the filling device 5 can simultaneously be positioned on pillar 37. By drawing back slide 36 to position C the loading cycle can be repeated again, while without disturbance the perforating and filling process of brush bodies 2 which are then taken up on pillar 37 can be executed. It is clear that after one or a three quarter rotation of drum 1 the brush manufactured by the respective brush body holder, which is then positioned in the place of brush body holder 15 in the figure, is separated and is discharged in a way known in itself to for instance an automatic finishing machine, an inspection station, a packaging machine, etc. According to a variant of the application according to figure 6 revolving elements 27 can be mounted fixed on pillar 37 whereby the brush body holders on the drum simply consist of brush body supports 29 with brush clamps attached thereto which clamp the brush bodies on the above mentioned base plates 31. By presenting drum 1 to pillar 37 the result is for instance obtained that brush body supports 29 with the brush bodies clamped thereto are directly transferred from base plate 31 to the elements 27 of pillar 37. Thus, drum 1 no longer needs to be equipped with the revolving elements 27. According to yet another variant, only the brush bodies 2 themselves can be transferred from brush body holders 12-15 of drum 1 to supports 29 provided on revolving elements 27 of pillar 37. Obviously drum 1 can be equipped with more or less than four hingable brush body holders 12 through 15.

Claims: Brush manufacturing machine of the type comprising a rotatable drum (1) having side faces (8 to 11) parallel to the rotation axis, for the transportation of brush bodies (2) to different processing stations, a plurality of brush body holders (12-15) arranged pivotably on said faces (8 to 11) of the drum (1) and means for pivoting said brush body holders (12-15) with respect to the drum (11), characterised in that the means for pivoting said brush body holders pivots said brush body holders (12-15) away from the corresponding face (8 to 11) of the drum about an axis of rotation parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum (1) from a first position in contact with said corresponding face (8 to 11) and opposite a processing station (4) for a first position of the drum to a second, outwardly directed position and opposite a second processing station (5) adjacent the first processing station for a following position of the drum (1), so that for each position of the drum (1) two brush body holders (12-15) are simultaneously arranged opposite two successive and adjacent processing stations (4 and 5). Brush manufacturing machine according to the preceding claim, characterised in that it comprises a positioning mechanism connected to the drum (1) for positioning the two succesive brush body holders (12-15) which are simultaneously arranged opposite the two successive and adjacent processing stations (4 and 5). Brush manufacturing machine according to any one of the preceding claim, characterised in that the means for hinging said brush body holders (12-15) comprise means for hinging each brush body holder (12-15) so that in said following position of the drum (1) it is outwardly directed in the same processing plane as the preceding brush body holder (12-15). Brush manufacturing machine according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterised in that drum (1) consists of a drum base (7) having vertices, the brush body holders (12-15) being hingably on the faces (5 to 11) of the drum around axes lying on the vertices of the drum base (7). Brush manufacturing machine according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the drum (1) has a square section. Brush manufacturing machine according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the means for hinging the brush body holders (12-15) are means for hinging over 90 degrees with respect to the faces (8-11) whereon they are mounted. Brush manufacturing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that each brush body holder (12-15) is equipped with a brush body support (29) pivotable around an axis parallel with the axis of rotation (24) of the drum (1). Brush manufacturing machine according to claim 7, characterised in that the brush body holders (12-15) comprise pivoting elements (27) on which the brush body supports (29) are mounted. Brush manufacturing machine according to claims 3 and 8 characterised in that the pivoting elements (27) comprise worm wheel segments (28) which are driven by worm shafts (30) mounted on the brush body holders (12-15) whereby the worm shaft (30) of a brush body holder revolved away from the drum (1) is coupled to the worm shaft (30) of an adjacent brush body holder (12-15) in a way that their operation becomes concerted. Brush manufacturing machine according to claim 9, characterised in that it comprises at least one drive for at least the worm shaft (30) of the brush body holders (12-15) which are presented to the following processing stations: the perforating installation (4) and the filling device (5). Brush manufacturing machine according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterised in that the brush body supports (29) are mounted slidably in the radial direction of the pivoting element (27) on said element (27). Brush manufacturing machine accoring to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said brush body holders (12-15) are removable from the drum (1). Brush manufacturing machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it further comprises a pillar (37) for removing said brush body holder (12-15) from said drum (1), said pillar (37) being arranged parallel to a single processing plane, and means to move the drum (1) and the pillar (37) with respect to each other. Brush manufacturing machine according to the preceding claim, characterised in that said means to move the drum (1) and pillar (37) with respect to each other are means to translate the rotating drum (1).

Inventors: BOUCHERIE, LEONEL
Applicants: G.B. BOUCHERIE, N.V.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: A46D3
IPC codes: B23Q39, A46D3