CN108474046B

CN108474046B - Cutting device with oscillating cutter head for a machine for cutting leather

Info

Publication number: CN108474046B
Application number: CN201680078145.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 詹尼·加卢奇
Original assignee: Teseo SpA
Current assignee: Teseo SpA
Priority date: 2015-11-09
Filing date: 2016-10-25
Publication date: 2020-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 2036-10-25
Also published as: WO2017081570A1; CN108474046A; EP3473732B1; EP3374528B1; EP3473732A1; CN111440906B; CN111440906A; ITUB20155406A1; EP3374528A1

Abstract

A cutting device (100) comprising: an oscillation chamber (1); an oscillating piston (10) predisposed so that the head (13) is in the oscillating chamber (1) and the rod (14) is connected to the cutting head (L); a pneumatic drive system (P) communicating with the oscillation chamber (1) to pneumatically drive the oscillation piston (10) to oscillate vertically in the oscillation chamber (1) and thus to oscillate vertically the cutting head (L) for cutting the leather pieces (V). The device also includes: an auxiliary chamber (2) located above the oscillation chamber (2); an auxiliary piston (23) predisposed with a head (24) in the auxiliary chamber (2) and having a stem (25) connected to the head (13) of the oscillating piston (10); and a thrust element (3) predisposed in the auxiliary chamber (2) between a head (24) of the auxiliary piston (23) and a lower abutment surface (22) of the auxiliary chamber (2). The thrust element (3) can be activated to lift after deactivation of the pneumatic drive system (P), so as to push and lift the auxiliary piston (23) against the upper abutment surface (21) of the auxiliary chamber (2), so as to correspondingly lift the oscillating piston (10) and thus the cutting head (L) to a raised position (LR) above the leather sheet (V).

Description

Cutting device with oscillating cutter head for a machine for cutting leather

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the particular technical field related to cutting machines for cutting materials, such as leather pieces, leather, synthetic leather, etc., in sheets or rolls, as fur.

In particular, the present invention relates to a cutting device having an oscillating cutter head that can be used by and mounted on a cutting machine.

Background

In this particular field, the cutting machine comprises: a frame, which is located above the work plane where the material to be cut is spread, such as fur (skins, leathers), synthetic leather, etc.; a cutting device provided below with a cutting head and moving means supported by and movable relative to the frame for moving the cutting device along three cartesian axes above the work plane so that the cutting head can be positioned above the pelt, the cutting head can be lowered to cut the piece of leather and moved along a given cutting path to cut the piece of leather according to a predetermined or desired contour and/or shape.

The cutting device for the above purpose is predisposed so that the cutting head can oscillate vertically from a low cutting position to a high cutting position while cutting the hide, while still remaining within the thickness of the material to be scored/cut.

A first type of cutting device currently used consists in making the cutting head oscillate vertically by means of a mechanical drive.

For example, cutting devices are known that include a cam member mounted on a shaft that can be driven to rotate, wherein the cam contacts a rod or other element connected to a cutting bit.

In this way, once the shaft is driven in rotation, the rotation of the cam member transmits an oscillating motion (alternate vertical translation) to the rod/contact member and, therefore, to the cutting head.

Various types of cutting devices are known which are predisposed to enable the cutting head to oscillate vertically by means of a pneumatic drive.

For example, cutting devices of known type are known comprising: an oscillation chamber having an upper end wall and a lower end wall; an oscillating piston predisposed with a head in the oscillation chamber and with an associated rod connected to the cutting head; and a pneumatic drive system in communication with the oscillation chamber to oscillate the piston in the oscillation chamber between the upper and lower end stop walls and thereby oscillate the cutting bit vertically.

In this known type of cutting device, the pneumatic drive system comprises a pneumatic supply and discharge, predisposed and configured so that the portion of the oscillation chamber comprised between the piston head and the upper end stop wall and the portion of the oscillation chamber comprised between the piston head and the lower end stop wall are alternately arranged in communication with the pneumatic supply and discharge so as to enable the piston to oscillate in the oscillation chamber.

In particular, when the pneumatic supply source is arranged in communication with the portion of the oscillation chamber comprised between the piston head and the upper end stop surface, the portion of the oscillation chamber comprised between the piston head and the lower end stop surface is in communication with the discharge, in which case the piston is pushed pneumatically downwards; whereas when the pneumatic supply source communicates with the portion of the oscillating chamber comprised between the piston head and the lower end stop surface, the portion of the oscillating chamber comprised between the piston head and the upper end stop surface communicates with the discharge, in which case the piston is pneumatically pushed upwards, thereby generating an upward oscillating movement in the oscillating chamber and a vertical oscillation of the cutting head.

In this respect, in these known types of devices, the oscillation chamber comprises two openings and the pneumatic drive system comprises a duct communicating with said openings and with a obturator or another valve mechanism, so that each of the two openings of the oscillation chamber can be arranged to alternately communicate with the pneumatic source and the discharge via said duct.

In the particular field of leather cutting (and similar materials) such as furs, synthetic leather, etc., it is often necessary and necessary to perform cuts of shapes with very jagged or discontinuous profiles, which have very drastic changes of the corners or directions: in this case, it is necessary to change the direction of movement of the cutting head.

Thus, to perform such an operation, the cutting bit must first be extracted and disengaged from the material, then rotated in a new cutting direction and finally lowered to penetrate the material, and re-oscillated to perform the slitting and cutting.

In both of the previously described types of cutting devices, with mechanical drive of the cutting head oscillation and with pneumatic drive of the cutting head, the detachment and extraction of the cutting head from the material is performed by lifting the entire cutting device: this requires a certain amount of time, which is detrimental to productivity, and further, the weight of the entire cutting device may also be several kilograms, so that inertia is not significant for short distances of play (in the order of millimetres).

This constitutes undoubtedly a drawback and a problem, in particular when the shape to be cut has a particularly complex and uneven profile, so that the cutting device needs to be lifted tens of times in order to complete the cutting operation.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new cutting device with an oscillating cutting head for cutting leather pieces, which is able to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks present in the devices of the prior art.

In particular, the object of the present invention is to provide a new cutting device with an oscillating blade which can be driven pneumatically to extract and disengage the cutting blade in a very short time, much shorter than the devices of the prior art.

The above object is achieved by a cutting device for machines for cutting hides with oscillating cutting heads according to what follows.

A cutting device with oscillating cutter head for a machine for cutting leather, comprising: a body; a cutting head for cutting a leather sheet spread on a work plane; an oscillation chamber within the body, the oscillation chamber comprising an upper end stop wall and a lower end stop wall; an oscillating piston having a head and a rod, the oscillating piston being predisposed so that the head is interposed between the upper and lower end walls in the oscillation chamber and the rod is connected to the cutting head; a pneumatic drive system in communication with said oscillation chamber, said pneumatic drive system comprising a pneumatic supply source and at least one discharge, said pneumatic supply source and said at least one discharge being predisposed and configured so that a first portion of said oscillation chamber comprised between said head of said oscillation piston and said lower end stop wall and a second portion of said oscillation chamber comprised between said head of said oscillation piston and said upper end stop wall are arranged in communication alternately with said pneumatic supply source and said at least one discharge, so as to pneumatically drive said oscillation piston to oscillate within said oscillation chamber between said lower end stop wall and said upper end stop wall and so as to oscillate said cutting head vertically between a lower cutting position of said leather sheet and an upper cutting position of said leather sheet, said upper end stop wall being predisposed in said body with respect to said lower end stop wall so as to cause said cutting head to oscillate when said cutting head is in said oscillation chamber Upon reaching the upper cutting position during vertical oscillation of the cutting head, the cutting head remains in contact with the piece of leather to be cut; the cutting device includes: an auxiliary chamber arranged above the oscillation chamber, the auxiliary chamber comprising an opening predisposed to communicate with the pneumatic supply and having an upper abutment surface and a lower abutment surface; an auxiliary piston having a head and a stem, predisposed so that the head of the auxiliary piston is located inside the auxiliary chamber and the associated stem is connected to the head of the oscillating piston through a hole present in the upper end stop wall of the oscillating chamber, the dimensions of the auxiliary chamber and of the stem of the auxiliary piston being such that, when the pneumatic supply is activated to oscillate the oscillating piston in the oscillating chamber between the lower end stop wall and the upper end stop wall, the auxiliary piston oscillates in the auxiliary chamber up to an upper end stop position, which is distant from and below the upper abutment surface of the auxiliary chamber; a thrust element predisposed in the auxiliary chamber to be interposed between the head of the auxiliary piston and the lower abutment surface of the auxiliary chamber, said thrust element being pneumatically maintained in contact with the lower abutment surface by a pneumatic flow, wherein the pneumatic flow enters from the opening of the auxiliary chamber communicating with the pneumatic supply during activation of the pneumatic supply and the thrust element can be activated to lift after deactivation of the pneumatic supply, so as to push and lift the auxiliary piston until the auxiliary piston is arranged against the upper abutment surface of the auxiliary chamber, so as to lift the oscillating piston accordingly, the upper end stop wall of the oscillating chamber being configured in the body and predisposed to be able to assume a static configuration in a predetermined working position during activation of the pneumatic supply, to define an upper end stop limit of the oscillating piston in the oscillation chamber, and when the pneumatic supply is deactivated and the thrust element is activated to lift, the upper end stop wall can be moved dynamically upwards with respect to the body to enable lifting of the oscillating piston until the auxiliary piston reaches a position when it abuts against the upper abutment surface of the auxiliary chamber, so that the cutting head can be lifted to a raised position above the upper cutting position, exceeding the thickness of the leather sheet, and thus be completely extracted and disengaged from the leather sheet.

Further advantages of the cutting device with oscillating cutting head according to the invention are set forth in the respective dependent claims.

Drawings

The characteristics of the cutting device with oscillating cutting head for machines for cutting hides according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figures 1A and 1B show two different operating configurations of the oscillating cutting head of the cutting device for machines for cutting hides, during its driving oscillation to perform the cutting of the piece of hide, in which figure a1 shows a lower cutting position accessible by the cutting head during its oscillation, while figure 1B shows an upper cutting position accessible by the cutting head during its oscillation,

figure 1C shows the cutting device of the invention with oscillating blade in a non-operating configuration, in which the cutting blade can be introduced in this non-operating configuration, i.e. in a raised and lifted position with respect to the leather sheet, and then extracted and detached from the leather sheet without the need to lift the whole device;

fig. 2A shows a first preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the cutting device of the invention with an oscillating cutter head, illustrated with the associated cutting head in the operating configuration of fig. 1A, i.e. in a lower cutting position accessible to the head during oscillation thereof;

FIG. 2B shows a view according to section II-II of FIG. 2A;

fig. 2C shows a detail K of fig. 2B on a larger scale;

fig. 3A shows the cutting device of fig. 2A with an oscillating blade head, illustrated in the operating configuration of fig. 1B, i.e. in an upper cutting position accessible to the blade head during oscillation thereof;

fig. 3B shows a view according to section iii-iii of fig. 3A;

fig. 3C shows a detail H of fig. 3B on a larger scale;

fig. 4A shows the cutting device of fig. 2A with oscillating cutter head, illustrated in the particular configuration of fig. 1C, i.e. in a non-operative configuration, i.e. in a raised position with respect to the leather piece, and thus disengaged from the leather piece.

FIG. 4B shows a view according to section IV-IV of FIG. 4A;

fig. 4C shows a detail J of fig. 4B on a larger scale;

fig. 5A shows a second preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the cutting device of the invention with an oscillating cutter head, illustrated with the associated cutting head in the operating configuration of fig. 1A, i.e. in a lower cutting position accessible to the head during oscillation thereof;

FIG. 5B shows a view according to section V-V of FIG. 5A;

fig. 6A shows the cutting device of fig. 5A with an oscillating cutter head, illustrated with the associated cutting head in the operating configuration of fig. 1B, i.e. in an upper cutting position accessible to the cutter head during oscillation thereof;

fig. 6B shows a view according to section vi-vi of fig. 6A;

figure 7A shows the cutting device of figure 5A with oscillating cutter head, illustrated in the particular configuration of figure 1C, i.e. in a non-operative configuration, i.e. in a raised position with respect to the leather piece, and therefore extracted and detached from the leather piece;

FIG. 7B shows a view of the section VII-VII according to FIG. 7A.

Detailed Description

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 100 globally designates a cutting device with oscillating cutting head for machines for cutting leathers, according to the present invention.

The cutting device 100 of the invention comprises a body C, a cutting head L for cutting a piece V of leather (or other similar material in sheet or web form, such as leather or synthetic material) spread on a work plane.

In this regard, the cutting device 100 can be mounted on a cutting machine, such as a numerically controlled cutting machine.

The cutting device is predisposed to drive pneumatically the cutting head L so that it can oscillate vertically to cut the piece of leather V.

For this purpose, the cutting device 100 is provided inside the body C with an oscillation chamber 1 and an oscillation piston 10, the oscillation chamber 1 having an upper end stop wall 11 and a lower end stop wall 12, the oscillation piston 10 having a head 13 and a rod 14, the oscillation piston 10 being predisposed so that the head 13 is inserted in the oscillation chamber 1 between the upper end stop wall 11 and the lower end stop wall 12, and the rod 14 being connected to the cutting head L.

For the pneumatic driving of the vertical oscillation of the cutting head L, the cutting device 100 is provided with a suitable pneumatic drive system P, which communicates with the oscillation chamber 1.

The pneumatic drive system P comprises a pneumatic supply P1 (for example compressed air, schematically indicated by the boxes in the figures) and at least one discharge S1, S2.

The pneumatic drive system P is designed in the following way: the pneumatic supply source P1 and said at least one discharge S1, S2 are predisposed and configured so that a first portion 1A of the oscillation chamber 1 comprised between the head 13 and the lower end stop wall 12 of the oscillation piston 10 and a second portion 1B of the oscillation chamber 1 comprised between the head 13 and the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillation piston 10 are arranged in communication alternately with the pneumatic supply source P1 and said at least one discharge S1, S2.

In this way, when the first portion 1A of the oscillation chamber 1 (which is comprised between the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 and the lower end stop wall 12 of the oscillation chamber 1) is in communication with the pneumatic supply source P1, the second portion 1B of the oscillation chamber 1 (which is comprised between the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 and the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1) is in communication with the at least one drain S1, S2, so that the oscillation piston 10 can be pneumatically pushed up (see, for example, fig. 2B, 2C and 5B, which show a situation in which the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 is in contact with the lower end stop wall 12, and is therefore in a state of being pushed up, i.e., pushed toward the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1).

Specularly, when the first portion 1A of the oscillation chamber 1 (which is comprised between the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 and the lower end stop wall 12 of the oscillation chamber 1) is in communication with the at least one discharge portion S1, S2, the second portion 1B of the oscillation chamber 1 (which is comprised between the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 and the upper end stop wall 12 of the oscillation chamber 1) is in communication with the pneumatic supply source P1, so that the oscillation piston 10 can be pneumatically pushed down (see, for example, fig. 3B, 3C and 6B, which show a situation in which the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 is in contact with the upper end stop wall 11, and is therefore in a state of being pushed down, i.e., toward the lower end stop wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1).

Thus, the pneumatic drive system P present in the cutting device 100 is capable of pneumatically driving the oscillating piston 10 to oscillate in the oscillation chamber 1 between the lower end stop wall 12 and the upper end stop wall 11 and thus to oscillate the cutting head L vertically.

Specifically, the cutting bit L is then oscillated vertically between a lower cutting position L1 (see fig. 1A, 2B, 5A, 5B) and an upper cutting position L2 (see fig. 1B, 3A, 3B, 6A, 6B), wherein the lower cutting position L1 is a position defined when the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 reaches abutment against the lower end stop wall 12 of the oscillation chamber 1, and the upper cutting position L2 is a position defined when the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 reaches abutment against the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1.

For this purpose, the cutting device 100 is such that: the upper end stop wall 11 is predisposed in the body C at a distance with respect to the lower end stop wall 12 such that when the head 13 of the oscillating piston 109 comes into contact with the upper end stop wall 11, the cutting head L reaches the upper cutting position L2, such that it always remains in contact with the leather sheet V to be cut, with the aim of guaranteeing the continuity of the cutting operation.

A first characteristic of the cutting device 100 of the present invention is that: the cutting device 100 comprises an auxiliary chamber 2 and an auxiliary piston 23, the auxiliary piston 23 having a head 24 and a rod 25.

In particular, the auxiliary chamber 2 is arranged above the oscillation chamber 1 and is provided with an opening 20, the opening 20 being predisposed to communicate with a pneumatic supply P1 and having an upper abutment surface 21 and a lower abutment surface 22, while the auxiliary piston 23 is predisposed in the following manner: the head 24 of the auxiliary piston is located inside the auxiliary chamber 2 and the relative rod 25 is connected to the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10 through a hole 110 present in the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillating chamber 1.

In more detail, the auxiliary chamber 2 and the rod 25 of the auxiliary piston 23 are dimensioned such that, when the pneumatic supply P1 is activated to oscillate the oscillating piston 10 in the oscillation chamber 1 between the lower end stop wall 12 and the upper end stop wall 11, the auxiliary piston 23 oscillates upwards in the auxiliary chamber 2 up to the upper end stop position FC, which is at a distance from the upper abutment surface 21 of the auxiliary chamber 2 and below the upper abutment surface 21 (see, for example, fig. 3B and 6B).

Another characteristic of the cutting device 100 of the invention is that: the cutting device 100 comprises a thrust element 3, the thrust element 3 being predisposed in the auxiliary chamber 2 to be interposed between the head 24 of the auxiliary piston 23 and the surface of the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2.

For example, the thrust element 3 may be constituted by a sleeve having a through hole for the sliding passage of the stem 25 of the auxiliary piston 23, the thrust element 3 being shaped so that it can be interposed between the head 24 of the auxiliary piston 23 and the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2 and constitute an abutment against the head 24.

In particular, during the activation of the pneumatic supply P1 to pneumatically drive the oscillating piston 10 in the oscillation chamber 1 and thus to oscillate the cutting head L vertically between the lower cutting position L1 and the upper cutting position L2, the thrust element 3 can be pneumatically maintained in contact with the lower abutment surface 22 by the pneumatic flow entering from the opening 20 of the auxiliary chamber 2, wherein the opening 20 is in communication with the pneumatic supply P1.

Particularly novel and advantageous aspects of the cutting device 100 of the present invention are: the thrust element 3 can be activated after deactivation of the pneumatic supply P1, so as to lift and push the head of the auxiliary piston 23 upwards and thus lift the auxiliary piston 23 upwards, until the auxiliary piston 23 is arranged with its head 24 in abutment with the upper abutment surface 21 of the auxiliary chamber 2, so as to lift the oscillating piston 10 accordingly (the stem 25 of the auxiliary piston 23 is connected to the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10 as mentioned before) and thus lift the cutting head L above the upper cutting position L2 (see, for example, fig. 4B, 4C, 7B).

In another novel and advantageous aspect strictly related to the preceding one, the cutting device 100 of the present invention consists in: the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1 is constructed and predisposed in the body C in the following way:

the upper end stop wall 11 can have a static configuration (figures 2B, 2C, 3B, 3C, 5B, 6B) in a predetermined work position PL during activation of the pneumatic supply P1 to define an upper end stop limit of the oscillating piston 10 in the oscillation chamber 1,

and when pneumatic supply P1 is deactivated and thrust element 3 is activated to lift, upper end stop wall 11 can move dynamically upwards with respect to body C to enable oscillating piston 10 to lift until auxiliary piston 23 reaches a point at which head 24 of auxiliary piston 23 abuts against upper abutment surface 21 of auxiliary chamber 2 (fig. 4B, 4C, 7B).

Thanks to these particular aspects (auxiliary chamber, auxiliary piston connected to oscillating piston, thrust element, upper end stop wall of the dynamically moving oscillating chamber), the cutting device 100 of the invention can be such that: in line with the deactivation of the pneumatic supply P1 and immediately, the cutting head L is lifted to a raised position LR above the upper cutting position L2, exceeding the thickness of the leather sheet V, and is thus completely extracted and detached from the leather sheet V (fig. 1C, 4A, 4B, 7A, 7B), all without any movement or lifting of the entire device or of the body of the device that bears the cutting head.

Accordingly, the cutting device 100 of the present invention effectively solves the problems occurring in the previously proposed cutting devices of the prior art.

Additional and other features and advantageous aspects of the cutting device 100 of the present invention will be set forth below.

In a first preferred possible embodiment, illustrated in fig. 2A to 4C, the cutting device 100 can be predisposed and configured to comprise an elastic element 31, for the purpose of the activation of the raising of the thrust element 3.

The elastic element 31 is predisposed to be interposed between the thrust element 3 and the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2.

In particular, the elastic element 31 is configured to be compressible and elastically loadable when the thrust element 3 is pneumatically held in contact with the lower abutment surface 22 by a pneumatic flow entering from the opening 20 of the auxiliary chamber 2 communicating with the pneumatic supply source P1 during the activation of the pneumatic supply source P1.

In this way, the elastic element 31 is in this case placed so as to be able to elastically drive the raising of the thrust element 3 to push the head 24 of the auxiliary piston 23 upwards and, consequently, push and lift the auxiliary piston 23 upwards and bring the relative head 24 against the upper abutment surface 21 after the deactivation of the pneumatic supply P1, and consequently raise the oscillating piston 10 and consequently the cutting head L to the raised position LR, extracting and disengaging from the leather piece V.

In this respect, the thrust element 3 comprises an annular seat 32 open at the bottom, while the elastic element 31 is constituted by a helical spring 31 predisposed in the annular seat 32 so as to be able to come into contact, through a lower end, with the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2.

On the basis of the second possible embodiment, for the purpose of the ascending drive of the thrust element 3, the cutting device 100 can be predisposed to comprise: a maintenance opening 27, located between the thrust element 3 and the lower abutment surface 22, in the relative side wall in the vicinity of the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2; an auxiliary pneumatic supply PA; and a maintenance duct 26 inside the body C, the maintenance duct 26 being provided in advance in communication with the maintenance opening 27 and the auxiliary pneumatic supply source PA (see fig. 5A to 7B).

In particular, the cutting device 100 is configured so that the automatic pneumatic supply PA is activated as a result of the deactivation of the pneumatic supply P1 of the pneumatic drive system P (fig. 7B), so as to direct the pneumatic flow inside the auxiliary chamber 2 below the thrust element 3 through the maintenance duct 26 and the maintenance opening 27, so as to pneumatically drive the thrust element 3 to rise to push and lift the auxiliary piston 23 against the upper abutment surface 21 and thus the oscillating piston 10, and therefore the cutting head L, to the raised position LR, to be extracted and disengaged from the leather sheet V.

In both of the possible embodiments described above, the cutting device 100 has the following further features.

The cutting device 100 includes:

a manipulation chamber 4 within the body C, the manipulation chamber 4 being located between the oscillation chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 2;

a piston 40, predisposed in the operating chamber 4, having a lower wall 41 and provided with a through hole 42, the through hole 42 being intended for the passage of the stem 25 of the auxiliary piston 23, so as to connect the stem 25 with the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10;

a connecting element 43, the connecting element 43 connecting and constraining the piston 40 to the thrust element 3 through the through hole 28 present in the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2.

In this way, when the thrust element 3 is pneumatically maintained in contact with the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2 by means of a pneumatic flow, entering from the opening 20 of the auxiliary chamber 2 communicating with the pneumatic supply source P1 during the driving of the pneumatic supply source P1, the piston 40 is maintained in a predetermined position with the thrust element 3 by means of the connecting element 43, so that the relative lower wall 41 is positioned in said working position PL to constitute the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1 and to define the upper end stop limit of the oscillation piston 10 (fig. 2B, 2C, 3B, 3C, 5B, 6B).

Furthermore, thanks to the presence of the connecting element 43 between the thrust element 3 and the piston 40, when the pneumatic supply P1 is deactivated and the thrust element 3 is activated to lift the upper abutment surface 21 of the auxiliary chamber 2, driven by the elastic element 31 or by the auxiliary pneumatic supply PA and thus push and lift the auxiliary piston 23, the piston 40 also rises in the operating chamber 4 and the relative lower wall 41 is displaced upwards, so as to enable the oscillating piston 10 to rise beyond the upper end limit reached in the oscillation stroke and thus to enable the cutting head L to rise to the raised position LR.

The connecting element 43 comprises a stem 44, hollow inside, and a head 45 at the lower end of the stem 44, the connecting element 43 being predisposed in the operating chamber 4 in such a way that the upper end of the stem 44 is fixed to the thrust element 3 through the passage hole 28 in the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2, the head 45 being connected and fixed to the piston 40, while the stem 44 houses slidingly inside it the stem 25 of the auxiliary piston 23.

Another advantageous aspect of the cutting device 100 of the present invention is that: the steering chamber 4 comprises an opening 48 at or near the upper part of the steering chamber, the opening 48 communicating with a pneumatic supply source P1 of the pneumatic drive system P, so that when the pneumatic supply source P1 is activated, a pneumatic flow enters the steering chamber 4 and acts on the head 45 of the connecting element 43 to keep the piston 40 pushed down and thus the lower surface 41 of the upper end stop wall 11 defining the oscillation chamber 1 stationary stably in the working position PL, thus preventing the impact and abutment of the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 from causing the upward displacement of the piston 40.

In the embodiments cited above, the cutting device 100 of the invention also has the particular features described below with respect to the way in which the oscillating piston 10 is pneumatically driven, namely: the oscillating piston 10 is pneumatically driven to oscillate in the oscillation chamber 1 between the upper end stop wall 11 and the lower end stop wall 12 to drive the cutting head L to oscillate vertically between an upper cutting position L2 and a lower cutting position L1.

The body C comprises a cylinder 16, while the rod 14 of the oscillating piston 10 is predisposed to be able to slide alternately in the cylinder 16.

Further, the rod 14 of the oscillating piston 10 is shaped to have: two

annular portions

141, 142 in sliding contact with the wall of the cylinder 16, and an annular recess 140 included between the two

annular portions

141, 142; an inner pipe 17; and the rod 14 is provided with a through hole 18, the through hole 18 being provided in advance in a position below the annular recess 140 to place the outside of the rod 14 in communication with the inner duct 17.

The head 13 of the oscillating piston 10 is then provided with a through hole 130, the through hole 130 being used to place the internal duct 17 of the rod 14 in communication with the second portion 1B of the oscillation chamber 1 comprised between the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10 and the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1.

Further, the pneumatic drive system P includes: a switching chamber 8 in a portion of the inner wall of the cylinder 16, and a main conduit 81, the main conduit 81 being predisposed in the body C to communicate with the pneumatic supply P1 and with the lower portion of the switching chamber 8; a second duct 82, which is provided in advance in the body C to communicate with the upper part of the opening and closing chamber 8 and the oscillation chamber 1 through a through hole 83 in the lower end stop wall 12 of the oscillation chamber 1; an upper discharge portion S1 and a lower discharge portion S2, wherein the upper discharge portion S1 communicates with the outside in the cylinder 16 at a position above the opening and closing chamber 8, and the lower discharge portion S2 communicates with the outside in the cylinder 16 at a position below the opening and closing chamber 8.

In particular, the annular recess 140 of the rod 14 has dimensions and the positioning of the hole 18 of the rod 14 with respect to the annular recess 140 is such that, as the rod 14 slides alternately inside the cylinder 16, the following conditions and situations are established:

when the annular recess 140 of the stem 14 is positioned at the switching chamber 8, the hole 18 of the stem 14 is positioned at the lower discharge S2, so that the main duct 81 communicates with the second duct 82 through the annular recess 140 and thus the pneumatic supply P1 communicates with the first portion 1A of the oscillating chamber 1 between the head 13 and the lower end stop wall 12 of the oscillating piston 10, while the second portion 1B of the oscillating chamber 1 between the head 13 and the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillating piston 10 communicates with the lower discharge S2 through the through hole 130 of the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10, the inner duct 17 of the stem 14 and the hole 18 of the stem 14, so that the oscillating piston 10 can be pneumatically pushed upwards (see for example figures 2B, 2C and 5B),

and when the annular recess 140 of the rod 14 is positioned at the upper portion of the switch chamber 8 and the upper drain S1 both communicating with the second duct 82, the hole 18 of the rod 14 is at the lower portion of the switch chamber 8 and communicates with the main duct 18, so that the pneumatic supply source P1 communicates with the second portion 1B of the oscillation chamber 1 between the upper end stop wall 11 and the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 through the hole 18 of the rod 14, the inner duct 17 of the rod 14, and the through hole 130 present in the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10, while the first portion 1A of the oscillation chamber 1 between the head 13 and the lower end stop wall 12 of the oscillation piston 10 communicates with the upper drain S1 through the second duct 82, so that the oscillation piston 10 can be pneumatically pushed down (see, for example, fig. 3B, 3C, and 6B).

For example, a possible operating cycle of the cutting device 100 of the invention is described below, for example starting from the situation illustrated in fig. 2B and 2C; in fig. 2B and 2C, the pneumatic supply P1 is activated and the oscillating piston 10 has an associated head 13, the head 13 being in contact with the lower end stop wall 12 of the oscillating chamber 1, i.e. with the cutting head L in the lower cutting position L1.

In this case, the position of the rod 14 of the oscillating piston 10 with respect to the cylinder 16 of the body C is such that the recess 140 of the rod 14 is positioned at the switching chamber 8, placing the main duct 81 in communication with the second duct 82, while the hole 18 of the rod 14 is positioned in the lower discharge S2.

Thus, the pneumatic supply source P1 communicates via the main duct 81, the switching chamber 8, the second duct 82 and the through hole 83 with the first portion 1A of the oscillation chamber 1 comprised between the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 and the lower wall 12 of the oscillation chamber 1, while the second portion 1B of the oscillation chamber 1 comprised between the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 and the upper wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1 communicates via the hole 130 of the head 13, the inner duct 17 of the stem 14 and the hole 18 of the stem 14 with the lower drain S2.

Therefore, when the second portion 1B of the oscillation chamber 1 above the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 is connected with the lower discharge portion S2, the pneumatic flow originating from the pneumatic supply source P1 reaches into the first portion 1A of the oscillation chamber 1 below the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10, thus pushing the head 13 upward.

Thus, the oscillating piston 10 is pushed upwards, so that the rod 14 slides upwards in the cylinder 16 and the cutting head L is displaced upwards respectively: the upward displacement of the oscillating piston 10 also determines the raising of the auxiliary piston 23 in the auxiliary chamber 2 by means of the connecting element 43.

During such ascent, the pneumatic supply source P1 communicates with the cage 4 through the opening 48 of the cage 4 previously set in communication with the main pipe 81, so that the pneumatic flow enters the cage 4 and maintains the position of the piston 40, thus keeping the position of the lower surface 41 stable, the lower surface 41 constituting, as previously described, the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillation chamber 1 and determining the working position PL of the upper surface 11; in the same way, the pneumatic supply P1 also communicates with the auxiliary chamber 2 via the relative opening 20, and the pneumatic flow entering the auxiliary chamber 2 thus keeps the thrust element 3 pushed downwards against the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2.

When the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10 abuts against the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillating chamber 1 (see fig. 3B, 3C), the cutting head L reaches its upper cutting position L2, so that the auxiliary piston 23 is in the end stop position FC below the upper abutment surface 21 of the auxiliary chamber 2, while the upward sliding of the rod 14 in the cylinder 16 of the body C determines the following condition (see in particular fig. 3C):

the hole 18 of the stem 14 is located at the lower part of the switching chamber 8 and therefore communicates with the main conduit 81, and the recess 140 of the stem 14 is located at both the upper drain S1 and the upper part of the switching chamber 8 and therefore communicates with the second conduit 82.

In this case, the main duct 81 communicates with the second portion 1B of the oscillating chamber 1 comprised between the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10 and the upper wall 11 of the oscillating chamber 1 through the through hole 18 of the stem 14, the inner duct 17 of the stem 14 and the hole 130 of the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10, while the first portion 1A of the oscillating chamber 1 below the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10 communicates with the upper discharge portion S1 via the through hole 83 and the second duct 82.

Thus, when the first portion 1A of the oscillation chamber 1 below the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10 is connected with the upper discharge S1, the pneumatic flow originating from the pneumatic supply source P1 reaches the second portion 1B of the oscillation chamber 1 above the head 13 of the oscillation piston 10, thus pushing the head 13 upwards: the oscillating piston 10 is thus pushed downwards, so that the rod 14 slides downwards in the cylinder 16 and the cutting head L is displaced downwards, respectively, to return to the previous situation-see fig. 2C-i.e. to the lower cutting position L1, while the auxiliary piston 23 returns downwards to abut against the thrust element 3 (fig. 2C) via the connecting element 43 and the head 13 of the oscillating piston 10.

The cycle described below is repeated as long as the pneumatic supply P1 is active, thus determining the oscillation of the cutting bit L between the lower cutting position L1 and the upper cutting position P2.

At the moment when it is desired to change the cutting direction and, therefore, to disengage and completely extract the cutting head L from the leather piece V, it is sufficient to deactivate the pneumatic supply P1 and the thrust element 3 is activated to lift, so as to push and lift the auxiliary piston 23 up to position the relative head 24 against the upper abutment surface 21 of the auxiliary chamber 2, thus also causing the lifting of the connecting element 43, which displaces the piston 40 upwards, thus causing the oscillating piston 10 to lift, due to the connection of the relative head 13 with the stem 25 of the auxiliary piston 23, beyond the upper end stop height normally reached during oscillation (i.e. beyond the height of the upper end stop wall 11 of the oscillating chamber 1 defined by the lower portion 41 of the piston 40 when positioned in the working position PL), and thus raising the cutting head L to its raised position LR, so as to disengage and extract the cutting head L from the leather piece V.

In the first embodiment described above, the activation of the lifting of the thrust element 3 is done automatically and instantaneously thanks to the elastic element 31 interposed between the thrust element 3 and the lower abutment surface 22 of the auxiliary chamber 2, whereas in the second embodiment the activation of the lifting is done by the activation of the auxiliary pneumatic supply PA.

Claims

1. A cutting device (100) with oscillating cutting head for a machine for cutting leather, comprising:

a body (C);

a cutting head (L) for cutting a leather piece (V) spread on a work plane;

an oscillation chamber (1) within the body (C), the oscillation chamber (1) comprising an upper end stop wall (11) and a lower end stop wall (12);

an oscillating piston (10), said oscillating piston (10) having a head (13) and a stem (14), said oscillating piston (10) being predisposed so that said head (13) is interposed in said oscillating chamber (1) between said upper end stop wall (11) and said lower end stop wall (12), and said stem (14) being connected to said cutting head (L);

a pneumatic drive system (P) communicating with said oscillation chamber (1), said pneumatic drive system (P) comprising a pneumatic supply source (P1) and at least one drain (S1, S2), said pneumatic supply source (P1) and said at least one drain (S1, S2) being predisposed and configured so that a first portion (1A) of said oscillation chamber (1) comprised between said head (13) and said lower end stop wall (12) of said oscillation piston (10) and a second portion (1B) of said oscillation chamber (1) comprised between said head (13) and said upper end stop wall (11) of said oscillation piston (10) are arranged in alternating communication with said pneumatic supply source (P1) and said at least one drain (S1, S2) so as to pneumatically drive said oscillation piston (1) in said oscillation chamber (1) between said lower end stop wall (12) and said upper end stop wall (11), and thus the cutting head (L) is caused to oscillate vertically between a lower cutting position (L1) of the piece of leather (V) and an upper cutting position (L2) of the piece of leather (V),

the upper end stop wall (11) is predisposed in the body (C) with respect to the lower end stop wall (12) so that the cutting head (L) remains in contact with the leather sheet (V) to be cut when the cutting head (L) reaches the upper cutting position (L2) during the vertical oscillation of the cutting head (L);

characterized in that said cutting device (100) comprises:

an auxiliary chamber (2), said auxiliary chamber (2) being arranged above said oscillation chamber (1), said auxiliary chamber (2) comprising an opening (20) predisposed to communicate with said pneumatic supply (P1) and having an upper abutment surface (21) and a lower abutment surface (22);

an auxiliary piston (23), said auxiliary piston (23) having a head (24) and a stem (25), said auxiliary piston (23) being predisposed so that said head (24) of said auxiliary piston (23) is located inside said auxiliary chamber (2) and said relative stem (25) is connected to said head (13) of said oscillating piston (10) through a hole (110) present in said upper end stop wall (11) of said oscillating chamber (1),

-the dimensions of the auxiliary chamber (2) and of the stem (25) of the auxiliary piston (23) are such that, when the pneumatic supply source (P1) is activated to oscillate the oscillating piston (10) in the oscillation chamber (1) between the lower end stop wall (12) and the upper end stop wall (11), the auxiliary piston (23) oscillates in the auxiliary chamber (2) up to at most an upper end stop position (FC) which is distant from the upper abutment surface (21) of the auxiliary chamber (2) and below the upper abutment surface (21);

a thrust element (3) predisposed in the auxiliary chamber (2) to be interposed between the head (24) of the auxiliary piston (23) and the lower abutment surface (22) of the auxiliary chamber (2), the thrust element (3) being pneumatically maintained in contact with the lower abutment surface (22) by a pneumatic flow, wherein the pneumatic flow enters from the opening (20) of the auxiliary chamber (2) communicating with the pneumatic supply (P1) during the activation of the pneumatic supply (P1), and the thrust element (3) can be activated to lift after the deactivation of the pneumatic supply (P1) so as to push and lift the auxiliary piston (23) until the auxiliary piston is arranged to abut against the upper abutment surface (21) of the auxiliary chamber (2) so as to lift the oscillating piston (10) accordingly,

the upper end stop wall (11) of the oscillation chamber (1) is configured and predisposed in the body (C) to be able to assume a static configuration in a predetermined work Position (PL) during activation of the pneumatic supply source (P1) to define an upper end stop limit of the oscillation piston (10) in the oscillation chamber (1), and when the pneumatic supply source (P1) is deactivated and the thrust element (3) is activated to lift, the upper end stop wall (11) is dynamically movable upwards with respect to the body (C) to enable lifting of the oscillation piston (1) until the auxiliary piston (23) reaches a position when abutting against the upper abutment surface (21) of the auxiliary chamber (2) such that the cutting head (L) is liftable to a raised position (LR) above the upper cutting position (L2) exceeding the thickness of the leather sheet (V), and is thus completely extracted and detached from the leather piece (V).

2. Cutting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the cutting device (100) comprises an elastic element (31) for activating the thrust element (3) for lifting, said elastic element (31) being predisposed to be interposed between said thrust element (3) and said lower abutment surface (22) of said auxiliary chamber (2), the elastic element (31) is configured to be compressed and elastically loaded when the thrust element (3) is pneumatically held in contact with the lower abutment surface (22) by a pneumatic flow, so as to be able to elastically activate the lifting of the thrust element (3) to push and lift the auxiliary piston (23) against the upper abutment surface (21) after the deactivation of the pneumatic supply source (P1), wherein the pneumatic flow enters from the opening (20) of the auxiliary chamber (2) communicating with the pneumatic supply source (P1) during activation of the pneumatic supply source (P1).

3. The cutting device according to claim 2, characterized in that the thrust element (3) comprises an annular seat (32) open at the bottom, and in that the elastic element (31) is constituted by a helical spring (31) predisposed in the annular seat (32) to come into contact, through a lower end, with the lower abutment surface (22) of the auxiliary chamber (2).

4. The cutting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the auxiliary chamber (2) comprises a maintenance opening (27), said maintenance opening (27) being located in a relative side wall in proximity of the lower abutment surface (22), between the thrust element (3) and the lower abutment surface (22), and in that the auxiliary chamber (2) comprises an auxiliary pneumatic supply (PA) and a maintenance duct (26) inside the body (C), said maintenance duct (26) being predisposed to communicate with the maintenance opening (27) and with the auxiliary pneumatic supply (PA), the auxiliary pneumatic supply (PA) being activated as a result of the deactivation of the pneumatic supply (P1) of a pneumatic drive system (P), so as to direct the pneumatic flow inside the auxiliary chamber (2) below the thrust element (3) to pneumatically drive the thrust element (3) to lift, thereby pushing and lifting the auxiliary piston (3) against the upper abutment surface (21).

5. The cutting device according to any one of claims 2 and 4, characterized in that it comprises: a manipulation chamber (4) within the body (C), the manipulation chamber (4) being located between the oscillation chamber (1) and the auxiliary chamber (2); a piston (40), said piston (40) being predisposed in said steering chamber (4) and having a lower wall (41) and being provided with a through hole (42) for the passage of said stem (25) of said auxiliary piston (23) to connect said stem (25) with said head (13) of said oscillating piston (10); a connecting element (43), said connecting element (43) connecting and constraining the piston (4)) to the thrust element (3) through a through hole (28) present in the lower abutment surface (22) of the auxiliary chamber (2), so that when the thrust element (3) is pneumatically held in contact with the lower abutment surface (22) by a pneumatic flow, the piston (40) is held in a predetermined position with the thrust element (3) by the connecting element (43) so that the relative lower wall (41) is positioned in the working Position (PL), constituting the upper end stop wall (11) of the oscillation chamber (1) and defining the upper end stop limit of the oscillation chamber (1), and so that when the pneumatic supply source (P1) is deactivated and the thrust element (3) is driven up to push and lift the auxiliary piston (23) against the upper abutment surface (21) of the auxiliary chamber (2), the piston (40) is also lifted in the manipulation chamber (4) and the associated lower wall (41) is displaced upwards to enable the oscillation piston (1) to be raised and thus the cutting head (L) to be lifted to the raised position (LR), wherein the pneumatic flow enters from the opening (20) of the auxiliary chamber (2) in communication with the pneumatic supply source (P1) during the activation of the pneumatic supply source (P1).

6. The cutting device according to claim 5, characterized in that the connecting element (43) comprises a stem (44) hollow inside and a head (45) at the lower end of the stem (44), the connecting element (43) being predisposed in the manoeuvring chamber (4) so that the upper end of the stem (44) is fixed to the thrust element (3) through the passage hole (28) in the lower abutment surface (22) of the auxiliary chamber (2), the head (45) being connected to the piston (40) and the stem (44) slidingly housing the stem (25) of the auxiliary piston (23) inside it.

7. The cutting device according to claim 6, characterized in that the manipulating chamber (4) comprises an opening (48) at or near an upper portion of the manipulating chamber (4), said opening (48) communicating with the pneumatic supply source (P1) so that, when the pneumatic supply source (P1) is activated, a pneumatic flow enters the manipulating chamber (4) and acts on the head (45) of the connecting element (43).