ADHESIVE-APPLYING APPARATUS

Abstract: In a computer-controlled adhesive-applying apparatus an adhesive applicator device (20) is guided along a desired path in respect of three axes according to a programmed instruction instruction in the form of digitised co-ordinate axis values, said device comprising a nozzle (384) having a ball (392) by which the flow of adhesive is controlled and which also, by engagement with the work, determines the heightwise position of the device, together with a brush assembly (398) comprising a set of bristles (404) secured to the nozzie housing (384) and surrounding it, with ends of the bristles projecting beyond the end face (384 a ) of the housing and ball. The nozzle housing (384) and brush assembly (398) are mounted for rotation whereby adhesive supplied via the nozzle is spread on the workpiece surface. In addition, the nozzle housing (384) and brush assembly (398) can "float" to accommodate irregularities in the heightwise contour of the workpiece surface. Means (200, 202, and 406 to 420) is also provided for tilting the device in order to maintain its axis perpendicular to the surface portion on which it is operating.

Description: This invention is concerned with the application of adhesive to selected portions of workpieces, e.g. to marginal portions of the bottoms of lasted shoes, and is more particularly concerned with improvements in or relating to an adhesive applicator device and to an adhesive-applying apparatus of which such device forms part. There is described in SU-A-1266-516 an adhesive applicator device comprising a nozzle having a housing in which a ball is accommodated for controlling the flow of adhesive through the housing and which has an end face providing an annular rim by which the ball is retained in the housing but which allows a portion of the ball to project beyond said end face, spring means being provided for urging the ball into a sealing position against the annular rim, thus to prevent the flow of adhesive from the nozzle, but the ball being movable against the spring pressure out of such sealing position, thus to allow adhesive flow, a brush assembly comprising bristles which extend in a direction lengthwise of the nozzle housing and which project beyond the end face thereof by a distance which can be set, the bristles being disposed about the whole of the periphery of said end face, and drive means, including a motor, for effecting rotation of the brush assembly about an axis extending lengthwise of the nozzle for spreading adhesive supplied from the nozzle. It will be appreciated that the more the above-described device is pressed against the surface of a component, the more the bristles will be deformed and the greater therefore the spread of adhesive from the centre of the nozzle. In the case of this device, furthermore, there is no particular control the amount of deformation of the bristles, the requirement only being that the ball is moved out of its sealing position to allow adhesive to flow from the nozzle. It is thus possible to vary the relationship between the nozzle and the workpiece surface, according to the applied pressure, over a range of distances limited only by, on the one hand, having just released the ball from its sealing position and, on the other hand, when the ball is fully retracted into the housing. When the ball is thus fully retracted, however, pressing the end of the housing against the workpiece may cause damage to the surface of the workpiece and in addition by pressing the end against the workpiece surface the flow of adhesive from the nozzle housing can be interfered with. There is thus no positive position to which the ball can be moved and consequently the deformation of the bristles, and thus the spread of the adhesive, cannot be controlled. The device described in the aforementioned specification is intended for use in a machine in which the workpiece surface is presented manually to the device and consequently reliance is placed upon the skill of the operator to ensure that the adhesive is applied only to those areas of the workpiece surface that is required and not elsewhere. Such a device is, however, not suitable where it forms part of an automatic machine for applying adhesive to selected surface portions, especially where the surface of such workpieces may be irregular so that the distance of the device from the workpiece surface cannot be maintained constant, with the result that the position of the ball in its housing will vary and the deformation of the bristles will vary therewith. It is thus the object of the present invention to provide an improved adhesive applicator device in which the aforementioned disadvantages are mitigated. The invention thus provides, in one of its several aspects, an adhesive applicator device having the features set out in Claim 1. It will be appreciated that by the provision of an abutment, a positive retracted position of the ball can now be established to which the ball can always be retracted when the device is used and as a consequence the deformation of the bristles, and thus the spread of the adhesive, can be more closely controlled than was previously the case. This feature is particularly desirable where the adhesive applicator device forms part of an automatic adhesive-applying apparatus, i.e. an adhesive-applying apparatus whereby adhesive is applied to selected surface portions of workpieces, comprising a support for supporting a workpiece with a surface thereof exposed to which adhesive is to be applied, an adhesive applicator device, means for effecting relative movement of approach and separation between the support and the device to bring the device into operative engagement with the surface of a workpiece supported by the support, and means for effecting relative movement between the support and device in directions both lengthwise and widthwise of the exposed surface of a workpiece supported by the support whereby the device is caused to follow a desired path along a selected Portion of said surface. An apparatus which is generally similar to the aforementioned apparatus, but in which roughing brushes replace the adhesive-applicator device and which is for use in carrying out a roughing operation on marginal portions of shoe bottoms, is described in detail in EP-A-0 091 321. In using such apparatus, with a shoe supported by the support, bottom uppermost, a roughing operation is thus effected progressively along marginal portions of the shoe bottom and the shoe bottom marginal portions are thus accurately roughed prior to the application of adhesive thereto. It is another of the various objects of the present invention to provide an improved adhesive-applying apparatus whereby an adhesive-applying operation can similarly be carried out on selected surface portions of workpieces with a degree of accuracy akin to that achieved in said roughing apparatus. The invention thus provides, in another of its several aspects, an adhesive-applying apparatus as set out in Claim 2. Using such apparatus, it will be appreciated, the deformation of the bristles of the brush assembly of the device can be closely controlled through bringing the ball and workpiece surface into pressing engagement with one another without the need for an accurate, e.g. computer-controlled, heightwise control of the device, and more particularly of the brush assembly and nozzle thereof. Moreover, by maintaining the ball in a retracted position in which it still projects from the end face of the nozzle housing, there is no question of interference with the adhesive flow from the nozzle housing. Preferably the nozzle and the brush assembly of the adhesive applicator are mounted in a hollow support member for limited bodily movement towards and away from the support, spring means being provided, having a greater applied pressure than that of the spring means acting on the ball, for urging the nozzle and brush assembly bodily towards the support. By this arrangement, it will be appreciated, the device can effectively "float" under the applied spring pressure and thereby can accommodate any irregularities in the surface of the workpiece without requiring compensating movement for the whole of the support for the device. It is thus possible, using the apparatus in accordance with the invention to follow in three orthogonal directions the contour of a model workpiece the surface of which is to be coated and thus to provide a programmed instruction for effecting relative movement between the device and the support for the workpiece, and any irregularities in the workpiece surfaces to be coated, as compared with the model workpiece, can be accommodated by this "floating" facility. It will of course be appreciated that the nozzle and brush assembly are mounted for rotation and, in order reliably to effect such rotation through the drive means, preferably the hollow support member relative to which the brush assembly and nozzle can slide as aforesaid is itself supported for rotation and carries a sprocket or the like forming part of the drive means, said member also being operatively connected with the nozzle and brush assembly thus to effect rotation thereof. It has been found that the direction of rotation of the brush assembly may, in spreading the adhesive, produce quite different effects according to the nature of the surface of the workpiece to be coated and consequently preferably the motor of the drive means is a reversible motor. Moreover, means is preferably provided by which, in accordance with the direction of relative lengthwise movement between the support and device along a marginal portion of the surface of a component as aforesaid, the direction of rotation of the brush assembly is determined. One preferred embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the invention is an apparatus for applying adhesive progressively to marginal portions of shoe bottoms and in such machine the support is adapted to support a lasted shoe with the bottom thereof uppermost, the last-mentioned means also being effective to determine the direction of relative lengthwise movement between the support end device. In this way, it will be appreciated, the operator has the facility for controlling all the aspects of relative movement between the support and the device and also the direction of rotation of the brush assembly with a view to obtaining the optimum results in terms of accuracy and control of the adhesive applied to the shoe bottom surface. It has been found, moreover, that good results generally arise where the brush assembly is caused by the drive means to rotate in a direction such that the bristles preceding the nozzle, as relative lengthwise movement takes place between the support and device, wipe inwardly away from the edge of the component surface. In the roughing apparatus referred to above a facility may be provided for tilting the roughing brushes about an axis extending transversely of the support, essentially in order to maintain the plane of the brushes, which are constituted by radial rotary brushes, perpendicular to the portion of the shoe bottom being operated upon. In an adhesive-applying apparatus such a tilting motion may not generally be required, depending upon the nature of the applicator head, but when using an applicator device as referred to above, and including a brush assembly of the "end mill" type, it has been found preferable that the device is mounted for tilting movement about an axis extending transversely of the support and tilt means is provided for effecting such tilting movement. In accordance with the invention, therefore, there is provided an automatic adhesive-applying apparatus which is more reliable than previously available "manual" machines and achieves a greater degree of accuracy in controlling the area of application of adhesive to the workpiece surface and, more particularly, in the preferred embodiment ensures that the applied adhesive follows closely the edge of the shoe bottom, thus ensuring a bond between the shoe bottom and an outsole as closely to the edge as is practicable, but without the applied adhesive extending beyond the area which will subsequently be covered by the outsole, since that would give rise to an unsightly appearance in the finished shoe. Moreover, by controlling the retracted position of the ball of the applicator device, not only is the spread of adhesive accurately controlled, but also the thickness of the adhesive stripe applied will also be uniform along its length and be provided with a sharply defined edge extending along the edge of the selected portion (or marginal portion of the shoe bottom) to which the adhesive stripe is applied. In this way "dry spots" within the adhesive stripe can be avoided. Furthermore, by leaving a small area of the ball projecting from the end face of the nozzle housing, the tendency (prevalent with many adhesive nozzles) for the adhesive to "drool" when the device is not in use is likely to be diminished if not indeed eliminated. There now follows a detailed description, to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, of an adhesive applicator device and of an adhesive-applying apparatus incorporating such device. It will of course be appreciated that this device and this apparatus have been selected for description merely by way of non-limiting example of the invention. In the accompanying drawings:- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front view of the apparatus in accordance with the invention, showing the mounting of the device in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view, partly in section, showing details of the device in accordance with the invention; Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary views showing a ball of the device respectively in its sealing position and moved out of its sealing position by engagement with a component; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view showing the spreading effect achieved by pressing bristles of the device against a component while effecting rotation thereof; and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus, showing details of tilt means thereof. The apparatus in accordance with the invention is generally similar, except as hereinafter described, to the apparatus described in EP-A-0091321 (itself a modification of the apparatus described in EP-A-0043645), which latter apparatus is a machine for performing a roughing operation progressively along marginal portions of a shoe bottom. The apparatus thus comprises a shoe support (not shown, but designated 18 in said specification) for supporting, bottom uppermost, a lasted shoe S, and a support column structure (not shown, but designated 22 in said specification) on which tool supporting means generally designated 26 is supported for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis H (Fig. 7) extending transversely of the bottom of a shoe supported by the shoe support and also about a vertical axis V, while the shoe support is mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis (not shown) generally parallel to the axis H. It will thus be appreciated that, in the operation of this apparatus, the shoe support pivots about its shaft to move a shoe S supported thereby in a direction extending generally lengthwise of the shoe bottom, while the tool supporting means 26 is capable of pivotal movement about the two axes thus to move the tool supported thereby widthwise and heightwise of the shoe bottom, as the shoe support is moved as aforesaid. For effecting such movements furthermore, the apparatus comprises a first n.c. motor (not shown, but designated 144 in EP-A-0043645) for effecting lengthwise movement of the shoe support, a second n.c. motor (84) for effecting widthwise movement of the tool relative to the shoe bottom, and a third n.c. motor (122) for effecting movement of the tool heightwise of the shoe support. As described in detail in EP-A-0043645, the apparatus in accordance with the present invention is computer-controlled, the computer having a storage memory for storing digitised information relating to a number of selected styles of shoe bottoms to be operated upon, the operator selecting, by means of a keyboard (not shown), the appropriate style for the next shoe to be operated upon. The computer is thus effective to cause the tool to follow a pre-determined path defined by three axes in accordance with the selected digitised information progressively along marginal portions of the shoe bottom, by appropriate signals to the various n.c. motors. It will be thus appreciated that the apparatus in accordance with the present invention is generally similar to the machine described in EP-A-0043645 and EP-A-0091321 except that the two roughing brushes of the latter apparatus have been replaced by the adhesive applicator device generally designated 20 of the present invention. The tool support means comprises a transversely extending bridge member 150 (Figs. 1, 2 and 7) supporting, at each of the opposite ends thereof, a forwardly projecting arm 152, there being supported, by means of fulcrum pins 154, at the forward end of each arm 152, a generally U-shaped cradle comprising a cross-beam 156. Supported centrally of the cross-beam 156 are two brackets 350 between which extend an upper and a lower slide rod 352, 354, on which, by means of four slide blocks 356, a vertical plate 358 is mounted for sliding movement between two end positions determined by abutment of the plate with stop faces provided on the brackets 350. The end positions of the plate are such that the alignment of the centreline of the device 20 supported thereby is such that it corresponds with centrelines of each of the two roughing brushes of the apparatus described in EP-A-00043645, so that the same digitised information may be used as has been developed for use with the roughing brushes, and indeed the device follows the same operating path along each side of the shoe bottom as did the roughing brushes in said apparatus, the arrangement being such that, in response to a signal that the operation along one marginal portions is completed, the plate 358 is automatically moved to its other end position for the return traverse of the shoe bottom along the opposite marginal portion. For effecting such sliding movement of the plate 358, a piston-and-cylinder arrangement 360 is mounted on the cross-beam and its piston rod 362 is attached to an arm 363 mounted on one of the slide blocks 356. If desired, instead of mounting the plate 358 for sliding movement as aforesaid, the plate may be fixed to the cross-beam 156, and in that case the digitised information which has been developed for the roughing apparatus has to be modified to take account of the centrally mounting of the device. The adhesive applicator device 20 is mounted on the plate 358 in the following manner: Fixed to the front face of the plate 358 is a bearing block 364 (see Fig. 3) in which is rotatably mounted a hollow shaft 366 carrying at its lower end a sprocket 368 by which drive is imparted to the shaft (as will be hereinafter described). At its upper end the shaft carries a collar 370 in which is secured an upstanding pin 372 accommodated in a bore 374 of a further collar 376 which is threadedly secured to an output end 378 of a rotary coupling generally designated 380; one such coupling is available commercially from Deublin Limited. Force-fitted into the collar 376, furthermore, is the upper end of an adhesive supply tube 382 which passes through the hollow shaft 366 and has screw-threaded on the lower thereof a nozzle housing 384 (see Figs. 4 and 5). It will thus be appreciated that rotation of the sprocket 368 causes, through the pin and bore 372, 374, rotation of the tube 382 and thus of the nozzle housing 384 secured thereto. For effecting such rotation, the sprocket 368 is connected by a chain 386 (Fig. 1) to an output drive of an electric motor 388 which is carried on a support plate 390 supported on the underside of the bearing block 364. The nozzle housing 384 has a frustoconical lower end face 384 a which provides an annular rim spaced from the lower end face 382 a of the tube 382 to form therein a chamber in which a ball 392 is accommodated with a portion thereof projecting beyond the annular rim. A spring 394 is accommodated in a counter-sink formed in the lower end of the tube 382 and urges the ball against the annular rim into a sealing position in which adhesive flow through the nozzle is prevented. The application of pressure to the projecting portion of the ball 392, on the other hand, causes it to retract against the lower end 382 a of said counter-sink, which is slotted so as to allow adhesive flow from the tube when the ball is urged thereagainst, such adhesive then flowing over the surface of the ball and out between the annular rim and the projecting portion of the ball. It will thus be appreciated that, in using the device in accordance with the invention, pressing the ball 392 against a component to be coated with adhesive causes the ball to retract, to allow adhesive to be supplied through the nozzle, the supply continuing until the ball is moved out of contact with the component whereupon sealing takes place substantially immediately with consequent cut-off of the adhesive. The ball is shown in its retracted condition in Fig. 5. The nozzle housing 384 is capable of "floating" relative to the bearing block 364, that is to say excessive pressure applied to the ball is accommodated by sliding movement of the nozzle housing bodily in relation to the hollow shaft 366, so that any irregularities in the surface of the shoe bottom to be coated with adhesive, in relation to the heightwise path as determined by the third n.c. motor, can be accommodated. To ensure that the nozzle housing is urged into its lowered position, a further spring 396 is provided acting between the nozzle housing and the underside of the hollow shaft. It will of course be appreciated that the force applied by the spring 396 is significantly greater that that applied by the spring 394, so as to ensure that the ball will first retract when engaged. For spreading the adhesive which is supplied through the nozzle, a brush assembly generally designated 398 is secured to the outside of the nozzle housing 384, eg. by a Jubilee clip 400. The brush assembly 398 comprises a ring 402, e.g. of plastics material, which is slid along the nozzle housing and in which are embedded sets of bristles 404 arranged to form a cylindrical shape which surrounds the nozzle housing and projects beyond the end face 384 a , being disposed about the whole of the periphery of said end face 384 a . By virtue of its being fixed to the housing as aforesaid, the brush assembly 398 rotates with the nozzle housing 384. As can be seen from Figs. 4 and 5, when the apparatus is in use, urging the applicator device against the marginal portion of the bottom of a shoe supported by the shoe support causes the bristles 404 to be deformed outwardly. Moreover, it can be seen from Fig. 6 that as the brush assembly is rotated, the deformation is such that the ends of the bristles 'trail' in respect of the direction of rotation of the brush assembly. The bristles 404 thus spread the adhesive applied through the nozzle over the surface according to the amount of deformation of the bristles. Moreover, the amount of such deformation is controlled by limiting the distance through which the ball 392 is allowed to retract, viz. the distance as illustrated resp. in Figs. 4 and 5, the lower end 382 a of the counter-sink formed in the lower end of the tube 382 providing an abutment limiting the retraction of the ball. It has been found in practice that the stripe of adhesive which is applied has a sharply defined edge where the movement of the bristles 404, as the brush assembly rotates, is parallel with the direction of movement of the device bodily along its path. In operating on marginal portions of shoe bottoms, it is clearly desirable that a sharply defined edge is provided along the outside edge of the shoe bottom, since it is important firstly to ensure that the adhesive stripe adequately covers the whole of the area on which a bond is desired between the shoe bottom and an outsole, but where it is undesirable, in terms of the appearance of the finished shoe, for the adhesive to extend beyond that area. In EP-A 0091321 the path followed by each roughing brush is described and illustrated; more particularly the shoe support comprises an inductance sensing device 610 which is caused to generate a signal according to whether a shoe supported by the support is a left or a right, and in accordance with this signal the operation of the roughing brushes takes place so as to ensure that roughing is effected along the inside waist region always in one direction (in casu from the heel end to the toe end) and in the opposite direction along the outside waist region, so that uniformity of roughing can be achieved in a pair of shoes. This feature of shoe sensing is also preserved in the apparatus in accordance with the present invention and consequently the motor 388 is a reversible motor and the signal received according to whether the shoe is a left or a right determines the direction of rotation of the brush assembly 398. The preferred direction of rotation of the brush to provide the desired sharply defined edge has been found to be dependent upon the nature of the surface to which adhesive is applied. Thus in one mode of operation of the machine the direction of rotation selected is such that the portion of the bristles which precedes the ball, as the device follows it path, is always such as to cause the bristles 404 to wipe inwardly away from the outer edge of the shoe bottom; in other words, if the device follows a clockwise path around the shoe bottom, the rotation of the brush assembly is also clockwise and vice versa. Alternatively, with other surfaces it has been found desirable that the direction of rotation of the brush is reversed. For operating on shoes having a significant three-dimensional contour, e.g. ladies' high-heeled shoes, it has been found desirable to tilt the device bodily about an axis extending transversely of the shoe bottom in order to maintain the central axis of the nozzle vertical or substantially so to the shoe bottom portion at which it is operating. This feature of tilt is also disclosed in EP-A 0043645, an n.c. motor (designated 232) being provided for effecting such tilt, through an arrangement of rods connected to a link 202 which is pivotally connected to a bracket 200 mounted on the cross-beam 156, to cause the latter to pivot about the fulcrum pins 154. Using an n.c.motor in this manner allows infinite variability of the tilt position. Such an arrangement can thus also be utilised in the apparatus in accordance with the present invention. An alternative embodiment is shown in the drawings, which embodiment provides for a plurality of (in casu four) pre-set tilt positions. In this alternative embodiment, the link 202 is connected to the piston rod 406 (Fig. 7) of a first piston and cylinder arrangement 408 which is pivotally mounted, by means of a pivot pin 410, on a bracket 412 itself pivotally mounted on the arm 30 of the tool supporting means. Connected to the pivot pin 410 is a piston rod 414 of a piston-and-cylinder arrangement 416 which is arranged back-to-back with a further piston-and-cylinder arrangement 418 a piston rod 420 of which is pivotally secured to the arm 30. Each of the piston-and-cylinder arrangements 408, 416, 418 is of the same stroke (in casu 40mm). This arrangement is thus effectively a system whereby the position of the pivot 410 is varied according to whether piston rods 414, 420 are extended or not, giving three positions for the pivot 410, and in addition the overall length of piston-and-cylinder arrangement 406, 408 and the link 202 is varied according to whether piston rod 406 is extended or not. Because of duplication of positions where each cylinder has the same stroke, this gives an overall possibility of four different positions for the cross-beam 150 and thus four different tilt positions for the device. Control of the three piston-and-cylinder arrangements 408, 416, 418 is under computer control in accordance with programmed instructions. In certain cases, furthermore, it may be desirable to effect tilting movement of the nozzle about an axis extending lengthwise of the shoe bottom, thus to accommodate variations in the transverse contour of the shoe bottom. In such a case it has been found sufficient to provide for three pre-set tilt positions, although infinite variability or alternatively a larger number of pre-set positions could be provided.

Claims: Adhesive applicator device comprising a nozzle (382, 384, 392, 394) having a housing (384) in which a ball (392) is accommodated for controlling the flow of adhesive through the housing and which has an end face (384 a ) providing an annular rim by which the ball (392) is retained in the housing but which allows a portion of the ball to project beyond said end face (384 a ), spring means (394) being provided for urging the ball (392) into a sealing position against the annular rim (384a), thus to prevent the flow of adhesive from the nozzle, (382, 384, 392, 394) but the ball (392) being movable against the spring pressure out of such sealing position, thus to allow adhesive flow, a brush assembly (398) comprising bristles (404) which extend in a direction lengthwise of the nozzle housing (384) and which are disposed about the whole of the periphery of the end face (384 a ) and project therebeyond by a distance which can be set so that the bristles (404) deform when the device is pressed against a workpiece surface, and drive means (366 to 388), including a motor (388), for effecting rotation of the brush assembly (398) about an axis extending lengthwise of the nozzle (382, 384, 392, 394) whereby, when the device is pressed against a workpiece surface the thus deformed bristles spread adhesive supplied from the nozzle over such surface, characterised by an abutment (382 a ) for controlling the bristle deformation which is arranged in the housing (384) of the nozzle (382, 384, 392, 394) and which limits the retraction of the ball (392) into the housing, and thus the amount of deformation of the bristles (404), the abutment (382 a ) being so positioned that a portion of the ball (392) remains projecting from the end face (384 a ) of the housing (384) when the ball is in its retracted position. Adhesive-applying apparatus whereby adhesive is applied to selected surface portions of workpieces, comprising a support for supporting a workpiece with a surface thereof exposed to which adhesive is to be applied, an adhesive applicator device (20), means for effecting relative movement of approach and separation between the support and the device (20) to bring the device (20) into operative engagement with the surface of a workpiece supported by the support, and means for effecting relative movement between the support and device (20) in directions both lengthwise and widthwise of the exposed surface of a workpiece supported by the support whereby the device (20) is caused to follow a desired path along a selected portion of said surface characterised in that the adhesive applicator device (20) is constituted by a device according to Claim 1, and further characterised in that relative movement of approach between the support and the applicator device (20) is limited by engagement of the ball (392) with the abutment (382 a ) in response to the projecting portion of the ball (392) and the workpiece surface to be coated being brought into pressing engagement one against the other, the force applied by the means for effecting such relative movement exceeding that of the spring means (394) acting on the ball (392). Apparatus according to Claim 2 characterised in that the nozzle (382, 384, 392, 394) and brush assembly (400) of the adhesive applicator device (20) are mounted in a hollow support member (366) for limited bodily movement towards and away from the support, spring means (396) being provided, having a greater applied pressure than that of the spring means (394) acting on the ball (392), for urging the nozzle and brush assembly bodily towards the support. Apparatus according to Claim 3 characterised in that the hollow support member (366) is itself supported for rotation and carries a sprocket or the like (368) forming part of the drive means (366 to 388), said member (366) also being operatively connected (370 to 376) with the nozzle (382, 384, 392, 394) and brush assembly (400) thus to effect rotation thereof. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 to 4 characterised in that the motor (388) of the drive means (366 to 388) is a reversible motor (388), and further characterised in that means is provided by which, in accordance with the direction of relative lengthwise movement between the support and device (20) along a marginal portion of the surface of a component as aforesaid, the direction of rotation of the brush assembly (398) is determined. Apparatus according to Claim 5, and characterised in that the support is adapted to support a lasted shoe with the bottom thereof uppermost, and in that the last-mentioned means is also effective to determine the direction of relative lengthwise movement between the support end device (20). Apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 to 6 characterised in that the brush assembly (398) is caused by the drive means (366, 388) to rotate in a direction such that the bristles (404) preceding the nozzle (382, 384, 392, 394), as relative lengthwise movement takes place between the support and device (20), wipe inwardly away from the edge of the component surface. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 to 7 characterised in that the device (20) is mounted for tilting movement about an axis extending transversely of the support and tilt means (200, 202; 414 to 420) is provided for effecting such tilting movement.

Inventors: DAVIES, JOHN
Applicants: BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY LIMITED, USM ESPANA S.A.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: A43D25
IPC codes: A43D25, B05C5, B05C1