EP0076819A1

EP0076819A1 - Guillotine shearing machine comprising a device for holding and discharging cut sheet metal

Info

Publication number: EP0076819A1
Application number: EP19820901128
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alain Mirlicourtois
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-04-15
Filing date: 1982-04-14
Publication date: 1983-04-20
Also published as: WO1982003584A1; FR2504040A1; FR2504040B1

Abstract

Le dispositif comprend une nappe d'entrainement (7) sur laquelle sont disposes des moyens de roulement (11) a axe deporte definissant une surface support superieure de longueur reglable par rotation de la nappe d'entrainement (7). Les moyens de roulement (11) sont disposes sur une portion seulement de la longueur de la nappe d'entrainement (7), de sorte que la rotation de cette nappe (7) permet de regler la longueur de la surface support de tole, notamment en fonction de la position de la butee reglable (3).The device comprises a drive ply (7) on which are disposed rolling means (11) with an offset axis defining an upper support surface of length adjustable by rotation of the drive ply (7). The rolling means (11) are arranged over only a portion of the length of the drive ply (7), so that the rotation of this ply (7) makes it possible to adjust the length of the sheet support surface, in particular depending on the position of the adjustable stop (3).

Description

GUILLOTINE SHEAR COMPRISING A DEVICE FOR HOLDING AND DISCHARGING THE CUT SHEET.

The present invention relates to guillotine shears used to cut a metal sheet, and more specifically a device for holding the sheet before and after cutting and removing it.

The guillotine shears currently used most generally require manual operations for maintaining and positioning the sheet before cutting: the sheet is inserted under the cutting means against a stop limiting its length; to define an exact length of the sheet, it is necessary to maintain it horizontally between the cutting elements and the stop; the sheet is then clamped by holding elements arranged in front of the cutting elements, and the user can then abandon the sheet to proceed with cutting. This operating mode is relatively long and tedious, and devices have been proposed for horizontally holding the sheet before cutting, comprising jacks supporting the sheet at several points. Such devices are expensive, requiring a plurality of. cylinders to be able to adapt to sheets of different lengths, and the horizontal position adjustment. cylinders being relatively awkward. German patent application 1 652760 describes another device in which the evacuation is ensured by a horizontal conveyor belt mounted on a support movable vertically under the action of jacks. Such a device requires two drive means, a first means for causing the rotation of the treadmill, a second means such as jacks to allow its adaptation in height. The multiplication of drive and control means makes such a device relatively complex. An object of the present invention is to obviate the drawbacks of known devices by proposing a guillotine shears provided with a sheet metal support of adjustable length, which is both simple and economical and comprises a minimum of drive members and control. Another object of the present invention is to provide a device the length of which is automatically adjustable as a function of the position of the stop for adjusting the length of the sheet.

Another object of the invention is to propose a device adaptable to existing guillotine shears.

To achieve these and other objects, the present invention provides for a lower discharge ply, stressed cited by a drive member, to ensure the evacuation of the sheet after cutting; retractable support means are actuated directly by the discharge ply, between a first position in which they define a plane for supporting the sheet at insertion height between the cutting means and the stop, and a second position in which they are retracted to allow the sheet to flex freely. The support means and the evacuation means are thus carried out by the sole means of driving the evacuation ply.

According to another characteristic of the invention, there is an endless evacuation sheet rotating around two transverse axes under the action of a motor member to form an upper ply supporting the sheet and a lower return ply, and means rolling integral with the ply, offset towards the outside of the ply and distributed over a portion of its length. Rolling means provide the sheet holding and sliding surface, to hold the sheet between the adjustable stop and the cutting means; the length of this support surface is adjusted in a particularly simple manner by the rotation of the discharge ply to have a greater or lesser portion of the length of the ply provided with rolling means on the upper ply. In addition, the same rotation of the discharge ply makes it possible to retract the rolling means and to present a lower support surface to release the sheet during cutting.

According to another characteristic of the invention, a discharge ply is produced by providing several chains rotating endlessly around return wheels with transverse axes, all of the upper branches of the chains forming the ply; retractable levers are integral with certain chain links, and offset as an extension of these links, the length of the levers being chosen so that their free end forms sheet support in the introduction plane when the links are inclined bearing on the idler wheels; the levers are retracted when the links are in a linear portion of the chain. The only rotation of the evacuation ply thus causes the actuation of the retractable support means and the evacuation of the sheet.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the chains are of different lengths, so that the levers stand at different distances from the cutting means for supporting the sheet over its entire surface.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the chains are handling chains with long links and a hollow axis, the levers being coupled two by two on either side of the link to which they are secured by cross members inserted in the axes hollow; the adaptation of the levers is thus carried out in a very simple manner on known chain links, and the coupling of the levers two by two makes it possible to balance the forces to avoid twisting of the chain.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the chains comprise rollers whose diameter is sufficient for the sheet to roll on after cutting; a roller is also mounted at the end of each lever to facilitate the introduction of the sheet before cutting.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the following description of particular embodiments, given in relation to the appended figures among which:

- Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a discharge ply provided with eccentric support means; - Figure 2 shows a schematic side view of the device of the present invention in a first embodiment, the sheet being in an insertion position;

- Figure 3 shows a schematic view of the same device when cutting the sheet; - Figure 4 shows a schematic view of the same device during the evacuation of the sheet;

- Figure 5 shows a schematic side view of the device according to the present invention in a second embodiment in the insertion position of the sheet; - Figure 6 shows the same device in the cutting position;

- Figure 7 shows the same device in the sheet discharge position;

- Figure 8 is a schematic perspective view of three chains of different lengths forming the discharge ply; - Figure 9 is a schematic top view showing the distribution of chains of different lengths; and

- Figure 10 is a partial top view of the chain portion having a lever. As shown in particular in Figure 2, the guillotine shears comprises cutting means 1, arranged at one inlet 2 of the shears. A stop 3 is arranged in the same horizontal plane as the inlet 2 of the shears to limit the insertion of the sheet 4 to a predetermined length for cutting. The stop 3 can be disposed at a distance from the cutting means 1 adjustable as a function of the length of the desired sheet, as shown by arrow 5. A holding member 6 makes it possible to clamp the part of sheet metal arranged before the cutting means 1 to immobilize the sheet when cutting is carried out. A discharge ply 7, comprising for example two endless transport chains 15 and 16 as shown in FIG. 1, stretched between pulleys 14 journalling on horizontal transverse axes 8 and 9, provide the evacuation surface of the sheet metal. This discharge ply 7 can rotate around the axes 8 and 9 in the two directions of rotation, as shown by the double arrow 10. Over a portion of the length of the evacuation ply 7, there are rolling means such as rollers or rollers 11, integral with the discharge ply, journalling on horizontal transverse axes 12, the axes being offset towards the outside with respect to the surface of the discharge ply. The external generators of the support or rolling means 11 define the support surface; when the rolling means 11 are disposed on the upper discharge ply 13, the support surface produced by the rolling means 11 is arranged in the sheet metal introduction plane 4 between the cutting means 1 and the stop 3.

The length of the support surface thus produced can be adjusted by the rotation of the drive ply 7 around its axes 8 and 9, a greater or lesser number of rolling means 11 being arranged on the upper ply 13 to fill the space between the cutting means 1 and the stop 3: when the stop is in the maximum length position, on the right-hand side of the figure, there is a maximum number of rollers 11 on the upper ply to support the sheet over its whole length; on the other hand, when the stop 3 is in the position of shorter length, closer to the cutting means 1, it is necessary to move the rollers 11 back so as not to hinder the advance of the stop 3, and there is then arranged on the upper ply 13 a smaller number of rollers, also supporting the sheet over its entire length. On the length portion of the drive ply not including the rollers 11, it is possible to have cross members 17 defining a lower support surface than the rolling surface defined by the rollers 11. The operation of the device is as follows: initial position shown in FIG. 2, the rolling means 11 are arranged on the upper ply 13 to form a sheet support surface in the support plane passing through the cutting means and the stop 3. After insertion of the sheet 4, this sheet metal is held by the holding members 6, as shown in FIG. 3, and, by rotation of the drive ply as shown by arrow 18, the rolling means 11 are retracted by placing them on the lower ply 19. The sheet can thus bend under the effect of gravity to facilitate cutting by the cutting means 1. For this, rolling means 11 are used such as rollers or rollers, the diameter is sufficient to allow the complete release of the sheet in the cutting position as shown in Figure 3. This diameter is equal to the maximum displacement of the end 20 of the sheet during cutting. After cutting, the sheet falls on the part of the discharge ply not comprising the rollers 11 or support means, and is held by the cross members 17 disposed on the discharge ply. The evacuation is done by rotation of the evacuation ply as shown by arrow 21, this rotation causing the displacement of the sheet and the repositioning of the rolling means 11 on the upper ply 13.

In the second embodiment, illustrated by FIGS. 5 to 10, the evacuation ply comprises handling chains such as the chain 30 represented in FIG. 5, stretched between toothed wheels 31 and 32 which revolve around horizontal transverse axes . One of the links at least 33 of the chain 3θ is secured to a lever 34 extending the link.

In the position shown in FIG. 5, the lever 34 forms a medium support, its free end 35 coming flush with the insertion plane for the support of the sheet 4. For this, the chain 30 is turned to a position where the link 33 is inclined bearing on the wheel 32, the lever 34 then protruding from the ply formed by the chain 30, its end 35 rising to the insertion plane. We can for example, as shown in the figures, provide wheels 32 and 31 with six teeth, a rotation of one sixth of a turn of the wheel 32 is sufficient to tilt the lever 34 and bring its end 35 into contact with the sheet 4. The operation of the device is as follows: in the initial position shown in FIG. 5, the lever 34 is inclined by the rotation of the chain 30 to support the sheet 4; a slight rotation of the chain 30 in the direction of the arrow 36 shown in Figure 6 allows to release the sheet 4 and allow it to flex for cutting; after cutting, an additional rotation of the chain 30 as shown in Figure 7 allows the evacuation of the cut sheet.

For long sheets, it is necessary to provide several support means distributed over the surface of the sheet. For this, as shown in Figure 8, there are provided chains 30, 37 and 38 of different lengths; the wheels such as the wheel 31 furthest from the cutting means are all arranged along a same axis on which they rotate freely, while the wheels such as the wheel 32 closest to the cutting means are arranged on axes distributed over the length of the sheet. The longer chain 30 allows, by the lever 34, to keep the sheet in the vicinity of the cutting means, the shorter chains 37 and 38 allowing, by the levers 39 and 40, the maintenance of the sheet metal portions. further away from the cutting means. For sheets of large widths, provision will be made for a distribution of chain lengths, for example such as the distribution shown in FIG. 9 to maintain the sheet in a manner distributed over its entire surface. In this figure, there is shown schematically a top view of the levers 34, 39, 40, 34 ', 39' and 40 * arranged at different distances from the cutting means 1.

To cut sheets of different length, we can cause the inclination of a greater or lesser number of levers 34, 39 and 40 to adapt to the length of the sheet. Thus, for short sheets, only the levers closest to the cutting means such as the lever 34 will suffice, while for the longest sheets all the levers will be inclined.

FIG. 10 shows a top view of a chain portion supporting a lever 34. The chains used are preferably handling chains with long links and an axis hollow; the link 33 supporting the lever is limited by two axes 41 and 42 which connect it to adjacent mesailloiB 43 and 44. By the hollow axes 41 and 42 are introduced crosspieces connecting at two points levers 34 and 45 arranged on either side of the chain as shown in the figure. The levers are thus secured to the link 33 at a first end, and their second end is free to form support means.

It is preferably possible to use roller handling chains, in which the axes such as the axes 41 and 42 support in their central part rollers 46 and 47 whose diameter is greater than the height of the link. The rollers 46 and 47 revolve freely on the axes, and thus produce rolling means on which the sheet can move easily. With such an arrangement, the evacuation ply can be inclined in the direction of the outlet, so that the sheet tends to be evacuated by gravity. We can compensate for the inclination of the sheet by different lengths of levers, the levers 40 being longer than the levers 34 so as to produce a horizontal insertion plane.

The free ends of the levers such as the lever 34 can advantageously be provided with rollers 48 to facilitate the movement of the sheet during its insertion into the guillotine shears bearing on the support means.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which the upper part of the chain 30 rests on a support 49. The rollers such as the rollers 46 and 47 rest by their lower generatrix on the support 49, and support by their generatrix upper sheet 4 after cutting. In this case, during the rotation of the chain, the rotational movement imparted to the rollers accelerates the evacuation of the sheet 4, so that the stroke of the chain 30 required for this evacuation is greatly reduced, and this evacuation is accelerated .

In the two preceding embodiments, the adjustment of the length of the support surface can be made automatic by providing means for slaving the rotation of the discharge ply 7 to the position of the stop 3: for example, a position sensor 50. integral with the stop 3 and disposed at a predetermined distance therefrom, the sensor 50 having the function of detecting the presence of the roller 51 closest to the stop 3; the rotation of the drive ply 7 can be controlled as a function from the position of the stop 3 to keep the first roller 51 still facing the position sensor 5θ. In the case of the second embodiment, depending on the position of the stop 3, a different number of chains is requested to adapt to the length of sheet metal to be cut.

The two previous embodiments correspond to two different implementation methods, both comprising the following common steps: positioning the adjustable stop 3 at the desired cutting length; position the support or rolling means 11 or 34 to form a support surface at the height of insertion of the sheet by rotation of the discharge ply 7; insert the sheet 4 in abutment against the stop 3; block the sheet by the holding members 6.

In the method associated with the first embodiment, the flow means 11 are retracted by rotation of the drive ply to release the sheet, the sheet is cut, and, by rotation of the ply in the other direction, the sheet metal and the rolling means 11 are repositioned. In the method associated with the second embodiment, the levers 34 are lowered by a slight rotation of the chains, the sheet metal is cut by the cutting means 1, and the sheet metal is removed by rotation chains, a rotation in opposite direction being then necessary to bring back the levers in the vicinity of the wheels which make it possible to tilt them. In both embodiments, drive means are provided, not shown in the figures, to produce the rotation of the evacuation ply 7. In the second embodiment, the rotation of the evacuation ply can be relatively limited, so that movements can be produced by jacks. In the case of six chains associated with six levers as shown in Figure 9, we can provide three cylinders each biasing two chains of the same length whose movements can be coupled.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments which have been explicitly described, but it includes the various variants and generalizations thereof contained in the field of claims below.

Claims

1 - Guillotine shears comprising cutting means (1), means for positioning and maintaining the sheets (4) against a stop (3) before cutting, means for ensuring the release of the sheet during cutting, and a lower evacuation ply (7) urged by a motor member to ensure the evacuation of the sheet after cutting, characterized in that it comprises retractable support means (11, 34), actuated directly by the evacuation ply , between a first position in which they define a plane for supporting the sheet at insertion height between the cutting means (1) and the stop (3) and a second position in which they are retracted to allow the sheet to flex freely.

2 - Guillotine shears according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of rolling means (11) mounted idly on the discharge ply, offset towards the outside of the ply and distributed over a portion of the length of this sheet, so that the assembly forms a retractable rolling surface and of adjustable length on which comes to roll and rest the sheet (4) during insertion. 3 - Guillotine shears according to claim 2, characterized in that the evacuation ply is arranged so that the sheet can bend freely before cutting when the means ensuring its maintenance are retracted, and in that the rolling means ( 11) are offset from a distance such that their upper ends define a plane passing through the section plane of the sheet when they are positioned above the upper ply.

4 - Guillotine shears according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that crosspieces (17) are distributed over the length of the discharge ply having no rolling means (11).

5 - Guillotine shears according to claim 1, characterized in that the evacuation ply comprises several chains 30 endlessly rotating between return wheels (31, 32) with transverse axes and the upper branch of which forms the ply, and in that that it comprises retractable levers (34), each lever being integral with a chain link (33) and offset in extension of the link, the length of the lever being chosen so that its free end (35) form sheet support in the introduction plane when the link is inclined to rest on one of the deflection wheels (32), the lever being retracted when the link is in a linear portion of the chain. 6 - Guillotine shears according to claim 5, characterized in that the chains are of different lengths so that the levers (34, 39, 4θ) stand at different distances from the cutting means.

7 - Guillotine shears according to one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that the chains are handling chains with long links and hollow axes, the levers being coupled two by two (34, 35) of share and other of the link to which they are secured by cross members inserted in the hollow axes (41, 42). 8 - Guillotine shears according to claim 7, characterized in that the chains comprise rollers (46, 47) on which the sheet rolls after cutting, and in that a roller (48) is mounted at the end of each lever.

9 - Guillotine shears according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it further comprises means (5θ) for controlling the rotation of the evacuation ply to bring the support means in the area between the cutting means (1) and the adjustable stop (3) to support the sheet over its entire length, and retract the support means when advancing the stop (3).

10 - Method for the implementation of a device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, in which the stop (3) is adjustable, adjustable to the desired cutting length, the sheet is inserted in abutment against the stop ( 3) and on support means, the sheet is blocked by holding members (6), the support means are retracted to release the sheet, the sheet is cut by the cutting means (1) and the sheet is removed by rotation of the discharge ply (7), characterized in that prior to the insertion of the sheet, the support means (11, 34) are positioned above the sheet insertion height by rotation of the discharge ply , and in that, after blocking, the rotation of the discharge ply (7) is caused to retract the support means (11, 34), and release the sheet, a subsequent rotation of the sheet ensuring on the one hand the evacuation of the sheet and the positioning of the support means before insertion of the next sheet.