PROCESS AND PROGRAMMABLE, SYNCHRONIZABLE MULTIDRIVE APPARATUS FOR STAMPING PIECES OF SOAP AND SIMILAR SUBSTANCES

Abstract: The proposed process and apparatus are capable of shaping pieces of substances having a pasty consistency, such as normal, superfatted and synthetic soaps or mixtures thereof, by means of stamping between two mold halves (9, 10). It is envisaged that the movement of at least one mold half be physically independent of the movement of the other members and that it be driven by an actuator that determines position, and possibly speed and acceleration, it being envisaged that this movement be synchronized with the other machine movements by means of a central unit. It is also envisaged that the central unit, as well as coordinating movement of the mold half with that of the other members, should also drive it according to a pre-established law of movement.

Description: "PROCESS AND PROGRAMMABLE, SYNCHRONIZABLE MULTIDRIVE APPARATUS FOR STAMPING PIECES OF SOAP AND SIMILAR SUBSTANCES" The present invention concerns a process and an apparatus capable of carrying out stamping of pieces of substances having a pasty consisτency and especially stamping of pieces of normal or syn heτic soap or soaps made from a mixture of normal and synthetic soaps. For this purpose use is made, for example, of the machines described in Mazzoni patent N° 770.188 of May 23, 1964, in Jones patent (U.S.A.) ° 501.873 of July 9, 1930, in S.A.S. patenτ N° 769434 (Italy) and N° 1617262 (Germany) and in Binacchi European patent application N° 0095667. A firsτ type of soap stamping machine has a part called a disk or star or disk star that has its axis of rotation at right angles to the direction of travel of the soap on the feeding and unloading belts; we will call this family of machines the rotating disk type. 5. There exisτs another family of machines in which there is a part called a rotor which has its axis of rotation parallel to the direction of travel of the soap on the feeding and unloading belts; we will call this family of machines the rotor type. The distinguishing feature between the two families described is 10. that the disk type does not allow a great number of molds to be mounted because the disk diameter immediately becomes too large and the resulting inertias give rise to serious processing and mechanical problems; with these machines, therefore, increased production is achieved by increasing the processing speed while 15. leaving the number of molds unaltered. We will therefore call this family of machines the "high-speed" type. In the rotor family it is possible for the molds to proliferate along the major axis of the rotor, in theory indefinitely, since the diameter, and thus the inertias on the soap cakes, are not 20. increased. In practice, at the present state of the art, these rotor machines are restricted to eight molds arranged on one or two rotors. Increased production is therefore achieved by increasing the number of molds while leaving the operating speed unaltered. We will therefore call this family of machines the "low-speed" type. 25. The operating speed expressed in terms of number of strokes per minute is 100 - 150 for the high-speed or disk machines and 50 - 60 for the low-speed or rotor machines, according to type. In order to drive the members connected with the stamping operation for both these types of machines, use is made of kinematic chains and/or mechanical cams that take the drive from a single central 5. driving shaft and distribute it to the various members. Typically, the purpose of these members is to perform the following four operations: - feeding: the piece to be stamped is taken from a so-called feed belt and transferred to the stamping area; 10. - stamping: the piece is stamped between two mold halves; - unloading: the stamped piece is transferred from the stamping area to a so-called unloading belt; - cleaning: the stamping scraps must be removed from the stamping area so as not to interfere with shaping of the next 15. piece. There also exists a means of transporting the pieces to be stamped from one station, where one or more operations may take place, to the next; in conventional machines this transport means also is driven by means of kinematic mechanisms, by the central driving 20. shaft. The members that cooperate to perform the above described operations vary in number and operating mode in the various known types of machines mentioned above, but they have as their distinguishing feature the drive taken from a single central driving shaft and 25. transmitted simultaneously by means of kinematic chains. This shared drive is disadvantageous in that the reciprocal movements are established once and for all during construction of the machine drive, according to the type of kinematic mechanism installed; when changes in these reciprocal movements later become 5. necessary to shape pieces of different dimensions and/or shapes, the kinematic motions must be changed by replacing the mechanical parts of which they are composed. Another disadvantage caused by the presence of kinematic mechanisms is that the law of movement of each individual member is set during 10. construction of the machine; for example the suckers that carry the soap may accelerate in such a way as to cause the pieces being transported to fall off; or the duration of the pressure caused by the mold on the piece to be stamped is not long enough to bring about complete modelling, or yet again the speed of the feed belts 15. is not high enough to completely insert the piece into the feed station. All the disadvantages illustrated, connected with the law of movement of each member, cannot always be foreseen and thus remedied during construction of the machine, furthermore later modification 20. of the kinematic movement is not always possible and in any case requires replacement of component parts, thus making the modification uneconomical. Another disadvantage is caused by the elasticity of the kinematic system, especially when the chain of drive members is so long as to 25. lead to distortion of the kinematic system, either due to the stress of the stamping action or because of inertial forces caused by the intermittently moving masses, which cause vibrations and imperfect positioning of the driven members. Another disadvantage lies in the fact that the positioning of the various members, during assembly of a new stamping fixture on the machine, must be adjusted manually using tools, according to the 5. shape and size of the piece, and this requires skilled labour. The aim of the present invention is to create a drive for a stamping macn ne for soap and similar substances of a flexible type, i.e. capaole of adapting to highly variable types, shapes and sizes of soap. 10. The above aim has been achieved as specified in the attached claims. A machine has thus been created that allows the respective drives and laws of movement of the members to be modified even after construction of the machine , since only the program that controls the system is affected and not the kinematic mechanisms . 15. The proposed machine also makes it possible to take up the elastic yielding caused by stamping stress, since the final position of the upper mold half can be defined at the time of stamping by making a mold half advance further by an amount equal to the yielding; moreover these yieldmgs are less than those occurring with a 20. kinematic chain, since the mechanical elements forming the chain are no longer present, each one of them giving rise to a certain yielding. It is also possible, by means of flexible drive, tc auτomatically ad]ust the positioning of the various members, according to the shape and dimensions of the piece, using historical data that can be stored in the control system memory and recalled when a format already produced in the past is put into production again. In order to better understand the above and by way of unrestrictive 5_ example, a description follows of some embodiments illustrated in the attached drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows an axonometric view of a first embodiment of the low-speed, rotor type; Figs. 2 to 5 show a cross-section illustrating the processing 1o. sequence that takes place on the machine in Figure 1 ? Fig. 6 shows an axonometric view of a stamping machine of the high¬ speed or disk type. With reference to the figures, it will be noted that the members making up the rotor system are a stamping slide 1, a rotor 2, a 15. handling unit 3 for the pieces to be stamped SI (normally in the form of feeding suckers) ; a handling unit 4 for the stamped pieces S2 (this too is normally in the form of unloading suckers) ; a punch plate 5 for the excess soap ES; a feed belt 6 for the pieces to be stamped SI, an unloading belt 8 for the excess soap ES; a 20. .'.ranslating (or upper) mold half 9; a rotating (or lower) mold half 10. Fig. 1 is a schematic view of the system with reference to an unrestrictive exemplary embodiment, suitable for processing two cakes of soap simultaneously; as it can be readily understood, this 25. example can easily be developed in further multiples to process four, six, eight cakes of soap simultaneously and so forth. Operation of the machine will now be described with reference to figures 2, 3, 4 and 5; the pieces of soap to be stamped SI arrive, already cut, on feed belt 6 (Figure 3) . They are taken by the feeding suckers 3 (Figures 4 and 5) and transferred onto the 5. rotating (lower) mold halves 10 (Figure 2); the downstroke of the translating (upper) mold halves 9 (Figure 3), having a radial movement with respect to the rotor 2, brings about shaping (or stamping) of the soap cakes S2 (Figure 3) and ejecτion of the excess soap ES (Figure 3); the stamped soap cakes S2 and the excess soap ES 10. ejected from the molds remain attached to the lower mold halves 10 by means of expedients not dealt with in the present invention, and are transferred with a 90° rotation of the rotor 2 into a suitable position to be taken by the unloading suckers 4 (Figure 4) ; the suckers 4 withdraw from the rotor 2 (Figure 5), passing through the 15. punch plate 5 that cuts away the excess soap ES (Figure 5) which falls onto the excess soap unloading belt 8 (Figure 5); the unloading suckers 4 continue their movement and with a 90° rotation set down the stamped soap S2 on the unloading belt 7 for stamped pieces (Figure 2); the rotor 2 (Figure 5), after surrendering the 20. stamped soap S2 and the excess soap ES returns with a 90° rotation to the position of Figure 2 where it receives the pieces to be stamped SI carried by the suckers 3 and placed on the rotating mold halves 10 (Figure 2) . The cycle is thus complete and is repeated anew as described. 25. The feeding and unloading suckers hold the soap before and after stamping by means of vacuum. During release of the pieces the vacuum is cut off and compressed air is blown in to aid release. Both the vacuum and the air are controlled by means of solenoid valves that are not illustrated. In the system described the following adjustments are necessary to adapt it to the various shapes and sizes of soap that can be stamped: 5. A) for the handling means 3 (or suckers) moving the pieces SI to be stamped; Al) height of the sucker 3 with respect to the lower mold half 10 during release of the piece to be stamped SI (Figure 2) ; A2) position of the sucker 3 with respect to the piece SI to be 10. transferred, at the moment when the piece is taken from the feed belt 6 (Figure 3) ; B) for the stamping slide 1 and upper mold halves 9; Bl) uppermost position of the slide to permit insertion of the feeding sucker 3 (Figure 2) ; 15. B2) closest posiτion of the upper mold halves 9 to the lower mold halves 10 during stamping: this position must be such as to bring about closing of the mold without bringing the two mold halves into contact with each other; this final position is also affected by the elasticities of the system generated by the high 20. forces of reaction of the soap in the final stage of stamping; C) for rotor 2 and lower mold halves 10; Cl) angular position of the rotor and the mold halves during setting down of the piece SI to be stamped (Figure 2) and subsequent stamping (Figure 3); 25. C2) angular position of the rotor and the mold halves during unloading of τhe stamped piece SI (Figure 4) ; D) for handling means & moving the stamped pieces (unloading suckers) ; D1) height of the sucker 4 and the piece S2 attached to it, w th respect to the unloading belt 7 during release of the piece onto the belt (Figure 2) ; D2) advancement of the sucker 4 and the piece S2 attached to it, 5. with respect to the unloading belt 7, during release of the piece onto the belt (Figure 2) ; D3) position of the punch plate 5 with respect to the stamped soap S2, in order to cut away the excess part ES without touching the plate with the piece S2 (Figure 5) ; 10. E) in addition to the adjustments indicated, there are also some adjustments to operation of the solenoid valves controlling air and vaccum; vacuum is given to the suckers to hold the piece during transfer and air is given during release to aid removal. The exact operating times of the solenoid valves depend on the 15. size and shape of the cakes and on the machine speed; F) feed belts: these move jerkily; the duration and speed of movement depend on the size and shape of the soap and on machine speed. The adjustments described above are carried out by actuators using 20. hydraulic servocylinders, hydraulic motors or electric motors for example, by programming their individual movements m a suitable manner in the coordinating and controlling units; in reality t is more practical to perform some adjustments mechanically and manually using tools, according to the conventional system, leaving automatic 25. adjustment for those movements where it proves really advantageous. Similarly the embodiment in Figure 6 envisages pairs of opposing stamping slides 12 each bearing mold halves 13, a rotating disk that serves to transport the pieces of soap to be stamped Al, the pre-stamped pieces A2 and the finished pieces A3, as well as the scraps A4. Also envisaged are introducing members 15 for the pieces to be stamped Al, suckers 16 to pick up the stamped cakes, a feed belt 17 for the pieces Al, an unloading belt 18 for the finished soap A3, an unloading belt 19 for the excess soap A4. In this case also perfect synchronization of the movements tradi¬ tionally obtained by the kinematic mechanisms, must be achieved. The members must also be adjusted when the soap format is changed.

Claims: C A I M S 1. A process for shaping pieces of substances having a pasty consistency, such as normal, superfatted and synthetic soaps or mixtures thereof, by means of stamping between mold halves pairs that close on each other and use a rotor or rotating disk to 5. transport the pieces after and/or before stamping, characterized in that the movement of at least one mold half is physically independent of the movements of the other members (i.e. no mechanical connection of a kinematic type is envisaged) and is operated by an actuator that determines its position law at any 10. instant of time, said positions being coordinated with the movement of the other members by means of an electric or electronic control unit. 2. A process according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit, besides coordinating movement of the mold half with 15. that of the other members, and operating it according to a pre-established law of positioning also drives it according to a pre-established speed law. 3. A process according to claim 1 characterized in that the control unit, besides coordinating the movement of the mold half 20. with that of the other members and operating it according to a pre-established law of positioning, also operates it according to a pre-established acceleration law. 4. An apparatus for shaping pieces of substances having a pasty consistency such as normal, superfatted and synthetic soaps or mixtures thereof, by means of stamping between two mold halves, characterized in that the driving means of at least one mold half is physically independent of the movements of the others members (i.e. 5. no kinematic mechanism and/or mechanical connecting cams are envisaged) and in that an actuator determines its position law at any instant of time, a control unit being provided to synchronize these positions with the movement of the other members of the apparatus. 10. 5. An apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the control unit comprises means such as to define the speed law also. 6. An apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the control unit comprises means such as to define the acceleration 15. law also. 7. An apparatus according to claim 4, 5 or 6, characterized in that the control unit and the actuator can be programmed to modify the laws of movement of the mold half (position, speed, acceleration) and its positions with respect to the other members. 20. 8. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the handling unit for the pieces to be stamped is also driven so that it is mechanically independent (without any kinematic chain) from the other drives and according to programmable laws of movement. 25. 9- An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the handling unit for the pieces to be stamped is also driven so that it is mechanically independent (without any kinematic chain) from the other drives and according to programmable laws of movement. 5. 9. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the handling unit for stamped pieces is driven so that it is mechanically independent (without any kinematic chain) from the other drives and according to programmable laws of movement. 1 0. 10. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 4 to 7, characterized m that also the second mold half is driven so that it is mechanically independent (without any kinematic chain) from the other drives and according to programmable laws of movemen . 15. 11. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 4 to 7, characterized in that also the transport means (rotor or disk) is driven so that it is mechanically independent (without any kinematic chain) from the other drives and according to programmable laws of movement. 20. 12. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 4 to 11, characterized in that one or more positioning adjustments of the members, during assembly of a new stamping fixture on the machine, are performed by means of any combination of hydraulic, electrical and mechanical means.

Inventors: MAZZONI ALDO, MAZZONI, ALDO
Applicants: MAZZONI G MECC COSTR, COSTRUZIONI MECCANICHE G. MAZZONI S.P.A.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: C11D13
IPC codes: B30B11, B30B15, C11D13