Patent EP-3689566-A1 (EP)
Title: Method of manufacturing, chain sub-units and machine
Inventor: VISCARDI GIANLUIGI CARLO
IPC: B23P21/00
Filed: 2015-08-17
Abstract: Machine (20) for the manufacture of a chain sub-units (10); said machine (20) comprises a carriage (22) movable along a translation guide (24) in an assembly direction (M), in order to compose each chain sub-unit; said machine (20) furthermore comprises first link feeders (26, 28, 30) to engage a carriage with four drive links (2), through the feeders (26), associating said drive links (2) with two connection links (4), by means of further feeder (28), and one cutting link (6), with a further feeder (30), wherein connection links (4) comprise pivot pins placed in each through hole at one end of the pin, and wherein connection links (4) and cutting links (6) are associated aligning lumina of the through holes (8') of the cutting link (6) with lumina of the through holes (8) of the driving links (2) penetrating the pivot pins protruding from the connection links into the through holes 8 of the drive links; said carriage (22) comprises a rotary support in order to reverse the arrangement of the links previously placed holding them in position with suitable means, in such a way that the drive links are accessible from a opposite surfaces; said machine (20) furthermore comprises successive stations with second link feeders (34, 36) to provide two other connection links, by means of the feeders 34, and a cutting link (6'), with the further feeder (36), so as to arrange them to bridge the drive links positioned previously, inserting them into the pivot pins already present; wherein connection links (4) coming from the link feeder (34) downstream comprise pivot pins placed in each through hole at one end of the pin; and in order that the connection links provided by means of the feeders (34) are superimposed respectively on the cutting link (6) and a previous connection link, while the cutting link (6') fed by the further feeder (36) is placed substantially aligned to one of the connecting links provided by means of the further feeder (28) of the first link feeders (26, 28, 30); said machine (20) furthermore comprises a first pin-locking station (38), wherein the pivot pins are anchored in an irreversible manner in the chain sub-unit thus produced, since the other end of the pin still free is locked or deformed, providing an axial retention along the chain-extension axis X and a rotation around the rotation axes (R); said machine (20) furthermore comprises a test station (40) where is placed a chain sub-unit taken from the carriage (22); said test station (40) establishing the suitability of the chain sub-units (10) to be incorporated in the cutting chain (1), by testing the sufficient property and/or functionality; and rejecting chain sub-units lacking or insufficiently provided with the property and/or functionality; said machine (20) furthermore comprises a further carriage (22') translatable along a further translation guide (24') to engage a suitable chain sub-unit; said machine (20) furthermore comprises third link feeders (42) to provide the connection links between the chain sub-units (10) that have passed the test, and at least one second pin-locking station (44), arranged upstream, to constrain the various sub-units (10) by means of other pivot pins to obtain the chain (1) of predefined length.