EP4599941A1

EP4599941A1 - Spreading device

Info

Publication number: EP4599941A1
Application number: EP25155677.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Luigino Salvador
Original assignee: Tiesse SRLS
Current assignee: Tiesse SRLS
Priority date: 2024-02-07
Filing date: 2025-02-03
Publication date: 2025-08-13
Also published as: IT202400002569A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a gluing device, generally known as a "glue tank", which allows extremely easy replacement of the glue present in the tank, replacing the glue tank and equipping the device with an opening/closing system for the components. responsible for the passage and regulation of the flow so as not to waste glue and reduce replacement times.

Description

The invention concerns a spreading device, in particular, for the distribution of hot-melt and non-hot melt adhesives, for gluing panels made of wood fibers or other materials, with finishing profiles also made of wood fibres, wood or other materials; ideally the device should be mounted on single or bilateral edgebanding machines already widely known as construction.
Spreading devices are known which are suitable for depositing a more or less thin layer of adhesive on the pieces to be glued using a roller or other systems. These devices also known as "glue tanks" or "gluing unit" can be of various shapes and types, roller, nozzle, with upper or lower tank of various capacities, they can distribute the glue on the panel, on the edge or on both the surfaces, if roller, can act in accordance with the advancement of the panel or discordantly.
These glue pots often have the possibility of being replaced using quick release devices from the machines that house them to allow the use of different types or colors of glue.
Sometimes, however, the glue contained in the tank is emptied, but the procedure for changing the glue is laborious as you have to empty the glue present in the tank, it is expensive as you have to empty the sump of the tank and eliminate the glue as waste and it is certainly costly in terms of time having to waste minutes of precious time, therefore as mentioned and if this is possible it is often decided to replace the tank with another containing a different adhesive; However, this solution also involves significant costs as there are various glue tanks available and time wasted for the intervention and the necessary mechanical adjustments.
An object of the present invention is to improve the aforementioned devices.
The invention provides a spreading device as defined in the attached claims, the definitions of which are an integral part of this description.
Thanks to the invention it is possible to obtain a coating device that solves the problems described above and in particular reduces the time needed to replace the type or color of adhesive present in the tank, eliminating the need to empty the tank or have to replace the entire spreading device, to completely eliminate the waste of adhesive contained in the tank and in the glue well, the device completely empties the well and cleans the glue roller from the adhesive present and avoids manual cleaning or mixing of different types, colors or other adhesives Between They.
The invention can be better understood and implemented with reference to the attached drawings which illustrate an exemplary and non-limiting form of implementation, in which:

Figure 1: is a front perspective view of the entire coating unit in the rest position,
Figure 2: detail D,
Figure 3: detail E,
Figure 4: is a front perspective view from below of the assembly broken down and in working position,
Figure 5: is a rear perspective view from above of the assembly broken down and in working position,
Figure 6: sectional view in working position,
Figure 7: sectional view in rest position,
Figure 8: front view of the coating device,
Figure 9: rear view of the coating device,
Figure 10: view of the main body disassembled, with the squeegee closed,
Figure 11: view of the main body with squeegee rotated,
Figure 12: view of the open tank,
Figure 13: view of the closed tank.

With reference to Figure 1 we see a view of the assembled coating device, i.e. where the two main parts constituting it are assembled in the operating position.
In particular we see body A which constitutes the element connected to the machine and to which the main tasks are entrusted, i.e. spreading the glue in the right quantity and method, interfacing with the machine body of the edgebander both for mechanical anchoring and for mechanical operation.
Body A is made up of a structural part which houses part C within it, in this case a roller which has the task of spreading the adhesive contained in body B which we will analyze later on the panel or edge, this roller rotates on a axis 5 generally vertical and parallel to the face of the support that receives the glue, this roller is controlled in its rotation by means of a mechanical device, generally a gearmotor or other device which in this non-limiting example is placed lower but is not shown for simplicity.
Body A also houses a component D see (Figure 2 and 5) consisting of a doctor blade which has the purpose of regulating the quantity of glue that remains deposited on roller C. To do this, the doctor blade itself has a circular section (Figure 2) and it also has a rotation axis 7, parallel to the axis 5, this axis 7 ideally has a center distance with respect to the axis 5, equal to half the diameter of the roller C plus half the diameter of the component D so such that this can rotate on its axis 7 without interfering with roller C but at the same time guaranteeing a minimum tolerance so as to remove the adhesive almost completely in the event that component D presents the circumference 3 towards roller C (Figure 3.6 ,7) instead if it is rotated progressively from the rest position, we will have that, until the edge 10 coincides with the surface of the roller C we will have the removal of the adhesive, continuing the rotation on axis 7 both clockwise and anti-clockwise we will progressively obtain an increasingly larger passage light based on the glue film we want to deposit on roller C.
The rest position is reached when the surface 8 of component D is parallel to the face 9 of body A (Figure 5.7)
The component D also performs a second function, in fact it has a discharged shape as in figure 3 where the surface 8 is parallel to the face 9 of the body A, when by rotating it on the axis 7 we make them coincide, and in addition to being parallel in this position they are also coplanar, it also has a maneuvering pin along the axis 7 to be able to rotate it along its axis 7 both manually and by means of a servomechanism; the control in this lower example can also be upper or of another type.
This rotation performs both the regulation of the quantity of glue and the positioning of the surface 8 of the doctor blade 6 coplanar with face 9 of the body A.
In body A there are seats to house component C and D and, given their diameters and relative geometry, a passageway is created which allows the passage of the glue.
Body A also has a shape dictated by the surfaces 9 and 21 (Figure 5) which have the purpose of hosting body B.
The surface 9 is ideally coplanar with the rotation axis 7 of the component 6 and in any case suitable for hosting the surfaces 13 and 20 of the component B (Figure 4).
In the illustrated example, the axis 7 is, as mentioned, coplanar with the surface 9, and the surface 8 is coplanar with the axis 7 and the surface 9, while the axis 12 is coplanar with the surface 13 and the surface 14, and practically the axis 7 and axis 12 coincide, this does not mean that with respect to the axis 7 and 12 the surfaces 8 -14 and 9-13 can lie on different planes even though remaining in pairs, coinciding.
Body B has the function of an adhesive tank and is attached to body A by means of a releasable device not shown for simplicity by means of mobile fixings.
Body B is equipped with a mobile component E which allows, thanks to its linear movement along its axis 12, to close the flow of glue from body B to body A through the slot 19, bringing the surface 17 into contact with the surface 18 of the component D Figure 4-5 when this is at rest and therefore with surface 8 parallel to surface 9, thus eliminating all the internal space that was previously occupied by the glue.
But also to create the space for the passage of the glue when the mobile component E is slid along its axis 12 in its working position visible in Figure 4.6, therefore with the surface 17 of the component E above the surface 22 of the component D in such a way that it is free to rotate on its axis and occupy part of the cavity thus created.
The mobile component E has a cylindrical section and axis 12 parallel to the axis 7 of the mobile component D of the body A. but has a flat surface 14 parallel to the axis 12 and parallel to the surface 13 of the body B.
Body B has a coupling surface 13 which is coplanar with component 11, therefore when body A and body B are coupled they rest via surfaces 9 and 13 and at the same time components 6 and 11 rest via surfaces 8 and 14.
Component B also rests surface 20 on surface 21 of body A.
When the bodies A and B are coupled, the component D is in the rest position and the mobile element E is in the closed position, there appears to be no internal useful volume and therefore the spaces are completely filled by the mechanical components. Conversely, by removing element E from the rest position to the work position and rotating the element D from the rest position to the work position, a passage is created for the glue 15 to flow from the tank B through the body A up to the roller C as highlighted by the flow arrow 16 Figure 6.
Again, if we bring the doctor blade D by rotating it on its axis 7 to the rest position and we bring the gate valve E back to the rest position, we will make the glue 15 flow back into the tank B, ready to be replaced without any loss with another tank containing glue of different nature by reversing the flow of arrow 16 (Figure 6).
The orienting concepts above, below, above, below, right, left, etc. are those compared to Figure 1.
One object is a gluing device for an edgebanding machine or other machines for gluing finishing profiles onto wood fiber panels or other material using adhesives, comprising:

a main body A, where said main body A comprising:
- a roller coating means C,
- a rotating adjustment blade D,
a body acting as a reservoir for adhesive B,

This device allows the elimination of the space inside the main body A occupied in working conditions by the adhesive 15 between the spreading roller C and the tank B, when it is in the rest position, avoiding any waste of glue.
The device in which the coating roller C has a rotation axis 5 almost parallel to the face of the support to be coated, be it a panel or an edge, and where the seat for the doctor blade D equipped with a rotation axis is obtained in the body A is preferred. 7 parallel to the axis 5, where said axis 7 has a center distance with respect to the axis 5, equal to half the diameter of the roller C plus half the diameter of the doctor blade D.
According to this configuration, in fact, the doctor blade D can rotate on its axis 7 without interfering with the roller C but at the same time guaranteeing a minimum tolerance so as to remove the adhesive almost completely.
Preferably, in the gluing device, the tank B, suitable for hosting the adhesive 15, includes a seat configured to accommodate the gate valve E, where the external shape of the gate valve E is configured to fit perfectly with the seat obtained on the tank B, and where the seat has an axis 12 along which the movement of the gate valve E occurs in the two rest and work positions, where in the work position the port 19 is exposed which connects the tank B with the body A to allow the flow of the adhesive.
Preferably, in the gluing device, the doctor blade D is free to rotate on its own rotation axis 7 and where the doctor blade D has a cylindrical shape at the bottom and a semi-cylindrical shape at the top, where said semi-cylindrical shape has a flat surface 8.
Doctor blade D in body A, in the rest position, has surface 8 coplanar with surface 9 of body A. Doctor blade D is free to rotate on its axis.
Preferably, in the gluing device, the gate valve E is free to move along its axis 12 and where the gate valve E has a cylindrical shape at the top and a semi-cylindrical shape at the bottom, where said semi-cylindrical shape has a flat surface 14.
Fig. 2 shows that once installed in tank B, the surface 14 of the gate valve E is coplanar with the surface 13 of the tank B.
Preferably, in the gluing device, the body A and the tank B are fixed to each other by one or more fastening devices to make them integral, also said lockings can be excluded to detach the tank B from the body A, and where the body A presents at least one surface 9 coupling with the surface 13 of the tank B, and where, in the rest position, the surface 9 with the flat surface 8 of the doctor blade D, the surface 13 with the flat surface 14 of the gate valve E, are almost coplanar.
In this way there is no space inside body A to accommodate the adhesive 15 which all remains in tank B.
Preferably, in the gluing device, the flat surface 8 of the doctor blade D and the flat surface 14 of the gate E are opposite each other and substantially without space in between when the gluing device is in the rest position.
Preferably, in the gluing device, the flat surface 8 of the doctor blade D and the flat surface 14 of the gate valve E have the same shape and size. More preferably, the flat surface 8 of the doctor blade D and the flat surface 14 of the gate valve E have the same rectangular shape, the long side of which is arranged vertically.
Preferably, in the gluing device, when in the working position, the gate valve E is moved on the axis 12 until the surface 17 is brought over the surface 22 of the doctor blade D, allowing the rotation of the same on its axis 7 and allowing the outflow of the adhesive 15 from the tank B through the port 19 creating the flow 16 which will come into contact with the rotating roller C, the edge 10 will regulate the film of glue deposited in based on the rotation of the doctor blade D by a pre-established angle by means of a device not illustrated as it is known.
Preferably, the doctor blade D and the gate valve E have a substantially identical diameter of the cylindrical part.
Preferably, in the gluing device, both the body A and the tank B can be heated by means of devices to allow the melting of the adhesive and the relative application.
Preferably, in the gluing device, any space inside body A occupied by the adhesive when the device is in the working position becomes zero when the device is in the rest position. The gluing device has the ability to eliminate any space occupied by the adhesive in the working position inside body A when it is in the rest position.
The aim of the present invention, as mentioned, is to allow rapid changes of glue thanks to the fact that the tank B can be replaced quickly by returning the glue in use to the roller C thanks to the doctor blade D and the mobile element E to the inside tank B without even minimal waste of glue, guaranteeing speed, economy and cleanliness.
The following claims are an integral part of the present description.

Claims

Gluing device for edgebanding machine or other machines for gluing by means of adhesives finishing profiles on wood fibre boards or other material, comprising:
- a main body A comprising:
- a roller coater C,

- a regulating doctor blade D,

- a body acting as a reservoir for the adhesive B,
characterised in that said adhesive reservoir body B comprises a shutter E, and where, when said shutter is in the closed position, the interspace between said shutter E and said regulating doctor blade D is substantially nil.
Gluing device according to claim 1, wherein the coating roller C, has a rotation axis 5 almost parallel to the face of the support to be coated, be it panel or edge, and wherein in the body A is obtained the seat for the doctor blade D having a rotation axis 7 parallel to said axis 5, wherein said axis 7 has a distance between centres with respect to said axis 5, equal to half of the diameter of the roller C plus half of the diameter of the doctor blade D.
Gluing device according to any one of the claims 1 to 2, wherein the reservoir B, suitable to accommodate the adhesive 15, comprises a seat configured to accommodate the shutter E, wherein the external shape of the shutter E is configured to fit perfectly with the seat obtained on the reservoir B, and wherein the seat has an axis 12 along which the movement of the shutter E takes place in the two positions of rest and work, wherein in the work position, the light 19 is uncovered which puts the tank B in communication with the body A so as to allow the flow of the adhesive.
Gluing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the doctor blade D is free to rotate about its axis of rotation 7 and wherein the doctor blade D has a cylindrical shape below and a semi-cylindrical shape above, wherein said semi-cylindrical shape has a flat surface 8.
Gluing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the shutter E is free to move along its axis 12 and wherein the shutter E has a cylindrical shape above and a semi-cylindrical shape below, wherein said semi-cylindrical shape has a flat surface 14.
Gluing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the body A and the container B are secured to each other by one or more fasteners to make them integral, said fasteners may also be excluded to detach the container B from the body A, and where body A has at least one mating surface 9 with surface 13 of container B, and where, in the rest position, surface 9 with flat surface 8 of doctor blade D, surface 13 with flat surface 14 of shutter E, are nearly coplanar.
Gluing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the flat surface 8 of the doctor blade D and the flat surface 14 of the shutter E are opposite each other and substantially without space in between when the bonding device is in the position of rest.
Gluing device according to any one of the claims 1 to 7 wherein, in a working position, the shutter E is moved on the axis 12 until bringing the surface 17 above the surface 22 of the doctor blade D allowing the same to rotate on its axis 7 and allowing the outflow of the adhesive 15 from the reservoir B through the gap 19 creating the flow 16 which will contact the roller C in rotation, the edge 10 adjusting the glue film deposited according to the rotation of the doctor blade D by a predetermined angle by means of a device not illustrated as known.
Gluing device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the doctor blade D and the shutter E have substantially identical diameter of the cylindrical part.
Gluing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein any space within the body A occupied by the adhesive when the device is in the working position becomes zero when the device is in the rest position.