EP4227050A1

EP4227050A1 - Method to drill holes into panels made of wood, plastic or the like

Info

Publication number: EP4227050A1
Application number: EP23155757.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Valerio CAVALLINI; Mirco MURATORI
Original assignee: Biesse SpA
Current assignee: Biesse SpA
Priority date: 2022-02-10
Filing date: 2023-02-09
Publication date: 2023-08-16
Anticipated expiration: 2043-02-09
Also published as: IT202200002420A1; EP4227050B1

Abstract

A method to drill holes into panels (2) made of wood, plastic or the like, according to which the panels (2) are moved in a forward direction (6) through a drilling station (8) using a feeding unit (13) provided with two moving assemblies (14, 15) beside one another, each of which has two pushing devices (16) facing each other in the forward direction (6) and each provided with two respective pushing members (18, 19) distributed transversely to the forward direction (6) itself; each panel (2) being grasped and moved through the drilling station (8) using a pushing member (18, 19) of each pushing device (16) of each moving assembly (14, 15).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority from Italian patent application no. 102022000002420 filed on February 10, 2022 , the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method to drill holes into panels made of wood, plastic, or the like.

BACKGROUND

In the field of drilling holes into panels made of wood, plastic or the like, it is known to provide a drilling machine comprising an elongated base, which extends in a first, horizontal direction, and is provided with a support device with belts and/or bars defining a support surface for the panels; a drilling station made along the base and provided with at least one drilling head for drilling holes into panels; and a feeding unit for moving the panels forward along the support surface and through the drilling station in the first direction.
The feeding unit comprises two moving assemblies, which are beside one another to move respective panels forward through the drilling station and along respective moving paths that are parallel to each other and to the first direction, and are each provided with respective pushing devices facing each other in the first direction.
Each pushing device comprises a slide, which extends above the support surface in a second, horizontal direction that is transversal to the first direction, and is slidably coupled to the base to make straight movements in the first direction along the base itself.
Each slide supports two pushing members, which have an elongated shape, extend in the first direction, and project from the slide towards the slide of the other pushing device.
Each pushing member has an L-shaped holding portion for panels, is mobile perpendicularly to the support surface between a lifted rest position and a lowered operating position, and is mobile along the corresponding slide in the second direction as a function of the shape and/or dimensions of the panels.
The known drilling machines of the type described above have some drawbacks mainly deriving from the fact that the two moving assemblies are able to move respective panels that have a relatively small width, measured parallel to the second direction, forward through the drilling station and that, as a result, the feeding unit has relatively limited versatility and flexibility.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method to drill holes into panels made of wood, plastic or the like, which is free of the previously described drawbacks and that is simple and economical to produce.
According to the present invention there is provided a method to drill holes into panels made of wood, plastic or the like as claimed in the attached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings that illustrate a nonlimiting embodiment thereof, in which:
Figures 1-4 are four schematic plan views, with parts removed for clarity, of a preferred embodiment of the drilling machine of the present invention shown in four different operating modes.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

With reference to Figures 1 to 4, number 1 indicates, as a whole, a drilling machine for drilling holes into substantially flat panels 2 made of wood, or the like, each of which is bounded by two parallel main faces 3 and is further bounded by a lateral contour 4, which is substantially perpendicular to the faces 3.
The drilling machine 1 comprises an elongated base 5, which extends in a horizontal direction 6, and is provided with two support devices 7 mounted one after the other in the direction 6.
In this case, the two devices 7 comprise a plurality of support bars and/or conveyor belts (not shown) defining a horizontal support surface P for the panels 2.
The drilling machine 1 further has a drilling station 8, which is made along the base 5 between the two devices 7, and is provided, in this case, with an upper crossbar 9 and a lower crossbar (not shown) extending above and, respectively, below the surface P in a horizontal direction 10 transversal to the direction 6.
The crossbar 9 supports an upper drilling head 11 mounted to make straight movements along the crossbar 9 in the direction 10 and to make, in addition, in relation to the crossbar 9 itself, straight movements in a vertical direction 12 that is orthogonal to the surface P and to the directions 6 and 10 between a raised rest position and a lowered drilling position.
The lower crossbar (not shown) supports a lower drilling head (not shown) mounted to make straight movements along the lower crossbar (not shown) in the direction 10 and to make, in addition, in relation to the lower crossbar (not shown) itself, straight movements in the direction 12 between a lowered rest position and a raised drilling position.
The panels 2 are moved forward along the surface P and through the drilling station 8 in the direction 6 by a feeding unit 13 comprising two moving assemblies 14, 15 beside one another and parallel to each other and to the direction 6.
Each assembly 14, 15 comprises two pushing devices 16 facing each other in the direction 6.
Each device 16 comprises a slide 17, which extends above the surface P in the direction 10, has a width, measured parallel to the direction 10, substantially equal to half of the width of the devices 7 also measured parallel to the direction 10, and is slidably coupled to the base 5 to make straight movements along the base 5 in the direction 6.
The slide 17 supports two pushing members 18, 19, which have an elongated shape, extend in the direction 6, and project from the slide 17 towards the other device 16.
The members 18 of each assembly 14, 15 are mounted between the corresponding members 19 and the other assembly 14, 15 in the direction 10.
Each member 18, 19 comprises a horizontal sliding block 20 mounted to make straight movements along the slide 17 in the direction 10, and a vertical sliding block 21 coupled to the sliding block 20 to make, in relation to the sliding block 20 itself, straight movements in the direction 12.
Each member 18 of each assembly 14, 15 is provided with two holding portions 22 of the panels 2, which are made at one free end of the member 18, have, in plan, an L shape, one facing the corresponding member 19 and the other the other assembly 14, 15, and are configured to engage the contour 4 at the corresponding corners at 90° of the contour 4 itself.
Each member 19 of each assembly 14, 15 is provided with a holding portion 23 for the panels 2, which is made at one free end of the member 19, has, in plan, an L shape, faces the corresponding member 18, and is configured to engage the contour 4 at the corresponding corner at 90° of the contour 4 itself.
Each member 18, 19 is moved by the corresponding sliding block 21 in the direction 12 between a raised rest position, in which the member 18, 19 is arranged on the outside of a moving path of the panels 2, and a lowered operating position, in which the member 18, 19 is arranged inside the moving path of the panels 2.
According to a variant not shown, the portion 22, 23 is coupled, in addition, to the slide 17 to make straight movements in the direction 6 between a retracted rest position, wherein the member 18, 19 disengages the panel 2, and a forward operating position, wherein the member 18, 19 engages the panel 2 itself.
In use, as a function of the shape and/or dimensions of the panel 2 to be drilled, the panel 2 is selectively gripped and moved forward through the station 8 in the direction 6 via:

the pushing members 18 of the two moving assemblies 14, 15 (Figure 1); or
the pushing members 19 of the two moving assemblies 14, 15 (Figure 2); or
the members 18 of a moving assembly 14, 15 and the members 19 of the other moving assembly 14, 15 (Figure 3).

When the panel 2 is held by the pushing members 18 of the two moving assemblies 14, 15, the members 19 of the two assemblies 14, 15 are moved in the direction 12 in their raised rest positions or in the direction 6 in their retracted rest positions.
When the panel 2 is held by the pushing members 19 of the two moving assemblies 14, 15, the members 18 of the two assemblies 14, 15 are moved in the direction 12 in their raised rest position or in the direction 6 in their retracted rest positions.
When the panel 2 is held by the pushing members 18 of a moving assembly 14, 15 and by the pushing members 19 of the other moving assembly 14, 15, the remaining members 18, 19 are moved in the direction 12 in their raised rest positions or in the direction 6 in their retracted rest positions.
With reference to Figure 4, grasping the panels 2 via the pushing devices 16 of the two moving assemblies 14, 15 makes it possible to also hold panels 2 that have a shaped contour 4, not necessarily a rectangular one, and move them forward through the station 8 in the direction 6.
With reference to what is described above, it is suitable to specify that the slides 17 are moved forward along the base 5 in the direction 6 via corresponding drive motors, which are driven independently from each other during a step for setting up the feeding unit 13 and in unison with each other during a step for moving the panel 2 through the station 8 in the direction 6.

Claims

A method to drill holes into panels (2) made of wood, plastic or the like in a machine comprising an elongated base (5), which extends in a first direction (6) and is configured to define a support surface (P) for the panels (2), at least one drilling station (8), which is obtained along the base (5) and is provided with at least one drilling head (11) mounted above or under the support surface (P) in order to drill holes into the panels (2), and a feeding unit (13) to move the panels (2) along the support surface (P) and through the drilling station (8) in the first direction (6), the feeding unit (13) comprising two moving assemblies (14, 15) beside one another, each moving assembly (14, 15) having two pushing devices (16) facing one another in the first direction (6), and each pushing device (16) comprising a slide (17), which extends above the support surface (P) in a second direction (10) transverse to the first direction (6) and supports two pushing members (18, 19) projecting from the relative slide (17) in the first direction (6); the method being characterized in that it comprises the step of:
grabbing and moving a panel (2) along the support surface (P) and through the drilling station (8) in the first direction (6) by means of a pushing member (18, 19) of each pushing device (16) of each moving assembly (14, 15).
The method according to claim 1 and further comprising the step of:
moving each pushing member (18, 19) along the relative slide (17) in the second direction (10).
The method according to claim 1 or 2 and further comprising the step of:
moving each pushing member (18, 19), relative to the relative slide (17), in a third direction (12) orthogonal to the support surface (P) between a raised rest position, in which the pushing member (18, 19) is arranged on the outside of a moving path of the panel (2), and a lowered operating position, in which the pushing member (18, 19) is arranged inside the moving path of the panel (2).
The method according to any one of the preceding claims and further comprising the step of:
moving each pushing member (18, 19), relative to the relative slide (17), in the first direction (6).
The method according to any one of the preceding claims and further comprising the step of:
moving the pushing devices (16) of the two moving assemblies (14, 15) in the first direction (6) in unison.
The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each pushing device (16) of each moving assembly (14, 15) comprises an inner pushing member (18) and an outer pushing member (19); the inner pushing members (18) of each moving assembly (14, 15) being arranged between the relative outer pushing members (19) and the other moving assembly (14, 15) in the second direction (10) .
The method according to claim 6, wherein the panel (2) is grabbed and moved along the support surface (P) and through the drilling station (8) in the first direction (6) by means of the inner pushing members (18) of the two moving assemblies (14, 15).
The method according to claim 6, wherein the panel (2) is grabbed and moved along the support surface (P) and through the drilling station (8) in the first direction (6) by means of the outer pushing members (19) of the two moving assemblies (14, 15).
The method according to claim 6, wherein the panel (2) is grabbed and moved along the support surface (P) and through the drilling station (8) in the first direction (6) by means of the inner pushing members (18) of a moving assembly (14, 15) and by means of the outer pushing members (19) of the other moving assembly (14, 15).
The method according to any one of the preceding claims and further comprising the steps of:
selecting two pushing members (18, 19) of each moving assembly (14, 15) based on the shape and/or the dimensions of the panel (2) to be drilled; and

grabbing and moving a panel (2) to be drilled along the support surface (P) and through the drilling station (8) in the first direction (6) by means of the selected pushing members (18, 19).
The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each pushing member (18, 19) has an L-shaped holding portion (22, 23) for the panels (2).