RU2622333C2 - Automated machine for fanfolding and stacking strip supplied with notches for bending and made of hard-to-deform material - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: technological processes.

SUBSTANCE: automated folding machine includes a supply means, a folding device of rotational type, and a storage device. The folding device comprises four parallel pairs of main rods. The rods are of equal length, arranged crosswise and made with the possibility of rotating together in a direction coordinated with the strip feeding direction relative to the central rotation axis perpendicular to this direction. Four parallel pairs of auxiliary rods are mounted on peripheral ends of the main rods. Four folding bars are installed on the peripheral ends of the auxiliary rods. The bars are mounted rotatably and with the possibility of circumscribing a substantially elliptical trajectory in the space. The major trajectory axis is oriented substantially horizontally. The central stacking axis is oriented substantially vertically and parallel to the minor elliptical trajectory axis.

EFFECT: possibility of continuous folding, increased folding reliability and accuracy.

11 cl, 13 dwg

Description

The technical field to which the invention relates.

The present invention relates to an automated machine for folding with an accordion and stacking (stacking) strips made of a sufficiently rigid material, that is, of a material that is difficult to deform, for example, from a material such as cardboard or plastic, or from a material, providing similar characteristics of rigidity due to its thickness and density, while the said strip is provided with transverse notches for bending, which are at the same distance from each other, that is, performed with a certain step. The machine according to the invention can be installed in the production line, for example, behind the installation for the continuous production of cardboard in the form of sheets of considerable width, which can even exceed 3 m, while the said installation can provide high performance, namely more than 3.3 m / s (approximately 200 m / min).

The background of the invention

Folding machines are known in the packaging and packaging industries for folding the accordion of a strip provided with notches for folding and usually made of cardboard, from said notches for folding and stacking them in the form of an accordion to form stacks or stacks of certain sizes that are then stored for subsequent use for packaging boxes of various sizes. The distance between two adjacent notches for folding is called the “step” of folding the strip, the value of which can reach 2500 mm or more.

The folding machine is known in the industry as described in Italian Patent Application No. 1374280, issued in the name of the applicant for this application on February 11, 2008. This known folding machine includes a folding device with rotating rods, allowing bending of each of the strip segments relative to its adjacent segment along transverse notches for folding and laying it in a storage container. In particular, said folding device comprises four parallel pairs of main rods of the same length, arranged crosswise, which are arranged to rotate together about a central axis of rotation in a certain direction, consistent with the feed direction of the strip to be folded. A parallel pair of auxiliary rods is installed at the peripheral end of each pair of main rods inside the space sweeping by them, the length of which is less than the length of the main rods, and which are rotatable in the opposite direction to the rotation direction of the main rods. Between the peripheral ends of each of the four pairs of said auxiliary rods, there is a folding rod oriented parallel to said main axis of rotation and, therefore, transverse to the feed direction of the strip to be folded. The auxiliary rods receive movement from the main rods with such a gear ratio that when the main rods make one revolution around the central axis, each pair of auxiliary rods makes two revolutions around its own axis of rotation. Thus, each of the four folding bars describes a substantially elliptical trajectory in space. The length of the main rods and the length of the auxiliary rods on the one hand and their rotation speeds on the other hand are such that for each of the folding rods it is possible to intercept the strip to be folded over each two notches to bend the latter, that is, after two folding steps. Thus, when the machine is in operation, each folding rod raises the strip to be folded on each of its second bend for folding, while the strip itself is lowered on the bending cutouts between them in contact with the corresponding folding rod, thereby providing folding the accordion strip.

In this known folding machine, the main geometric axis of said elliptical trajectory extends substantially transversely to the feed direction of the strip to be folded, which has a slope of approximately 25 ° downward from the horizontal plane, and the storage container has a first portion immediately adjacent to the folding device and is essentially in line with the feed direction of the strip to be folded in front of the folding device.

However, such an arrangement of the folding device and the storage container in this known folding machine that operates with a strip fed at a high speed (of the order of 3 m / s), as it turned out, has several disadvantages; these shortcomings make the machine insufficiently reliable, because its operation often has to be interrupted due to band jams and other violations of its operation.

The objectives of the invention

One of the objectives of the invention is to obtain an automated machine that would allow folding the accordion and stacking (stacking) strips equipped with notches for folding and made of sufficiently rigid material, the supply of which is carried out at high speed, even exceeding a value of 3.3 m / s, it would be highly reliable and guarantee continuous operation, for example, so that it could be located in the production line behind the installation ensuring the production I mention the strip equipped with notches for folding, in continuous operation.

In the case where the strip provided with the notches for folding is made of cardboard, or a similar cardboard or comparable to cardboard material, the folding machine according to the invention should also work with a product that has just left the production plant and can be hot and humid, making it folding and stacking, no less reliable and accurate than in the case of a product more convenient for work.

Another objective of the invention is to obtain a folding machine, which would be capable of stacking strips folded accordion, which could be shipped without interrupting the duty cycle.

The applicant has developed, tested and implemented the invention, designed to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, to achieve the above and other objectives and provide other advantages.

A brief description of the invention

The invention is disclosed and characterized in an independent claim, while in the dependent claims other characteristics of the invention or variants of the main inventive concept are described and characterized.

In accordance with the above objectives of the present invention, an automated machine for folding an accordion and stacking a strip made of sufficiently rigid material and provided with notches for folding overcomes the limitations of the prior art and its disadvantages and comprises means for supplying a strip providing the possibility of feeding a strip equipped with notches for fold, in a certain direction of supply to the folding device of a rotating type, providing the possibility of folding this strip s accordion and forwarding it to a storage device. Moreover, said folding device comprises four parallel pairs of main rods of the same length, located crosswise, which are rotatable in a direction consistent with the feed direction of the strip provided with bends for bending around a central axis of rotation that is perpendicular to the strip feed direction, four corresponding parallel pairs of auxiliary rods, which are rotatably connected with the peripheral ends of said main rods inside them swept spaces and are configured to rotate in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the main rods during operation of the machine, and four folding rods, which are rotatably connected to the peripheral ends of the auxiliary rods, so that for each of the four folding rods it is possible to describe the trajectory in space along essentially elliptical shape, while the folding rods are made with the ability to intercept the strip, equipped with transverse notches for folding, on every second notch for folding.

According to one of the characteristic features of the present invention, ensuring the operation of the folding machine in an optimal manner and without jamming the strip even at a very high feed speed of the latter (more than 3.3 m / s), the large geometric axis of the said path is oriented essentially horizontally, and the central axis of the stacking mentioned cumulative funds is oriented essentially vertically, that is, parallel to the minor geometric axis of said elliptical trajectory.

According to one of the auxiliary characteristic features of the present invention, said strip feeding means comprises an end slider located close to the folding device, so that the feeding direction of the strip provided with notches for folding intersects said elliptical trajectory in the fourth quadrant of the latter; in addition, said storage means are arranged so that their central stacking axis intersects the said path in the second quadrant of the latter, which is located opposite the fourth quadrant of this path relative to the central axis of rotation of the folding device.

According to another auxiliary characteristic feature of the invention, a horizontal support platform is located above the storage means, which provides, selectively and temporarily, support for the forming stack, which can be called a pre-stack, from the strip provided with notches for folding at the stage of removal of the stack that was formed in savings funds before that.

According to yet another auxiliary characteristic of the invention, there is provided an interceptor element that is located between the folding device and the storage means, wherein the intercept element is movable between a first operating position in which it is capable of intercepting the front of the strip provided with notches for folding, which comes from the feed means, and the second working position in which it does not interact with the feed strip .

According to yet another auxiliary characteristic of the invention, cutting means are provided for selectively cutting a strip provided with notches for folding without interrupting the operation of the folding device.

It seems to be advantageous to have such a solution in which said cutting means comprise two horizontal overlaps which are located opposite each other, each of which is movable between an open position in which they are allotted from the passage zone of the strip provided with notches for bending, and the operating position in which they clamp this strip, equipped with notches for bending, so that it can be cut in motion by means of a cutting unit, set claimed in the lower part of one of said Perekryvatel.

These and other characteristics of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description, with reference to the accompanying graphic materials, a preferred embodiment, which, however, is not limited to the scope of the invention.

Brief Description of Attached Graphics

In FIG. 1 schematically in a perspective view shows a folding machine according to the invention in the initial operating position.

In FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the first assembly of the folding machine shown in FIG. one.

In FIG. 3, the first unit of the folding machine shown in FIG. 2 is a side view of a first folding working position.

In FIG. 4, the first folding machine assembly shown in FIG. 2 is shown in side view in a second folding working position.

In FIG. 5, the first folding machine assembly shown in FIG. 2 is shown in side view in a third folding working position.

In FIG. 6, the first unit of the folding machine shown in FIG. 2 is shown in side view in a fourth folding working position.

In FIG. 7, the first unit of the folding machine shown in FIG. 2 is a side view in a fifth folding working position.

In FIG. 8, the first folding machine assembly shown in FIG. 2 is a side view in a sixth folding working position.

In FIG. 9, the first unit of the folding machine shown in FIG. 2 is shown in side view in the working position of the cutting.

In FIG. 10 is an enlarged side view of a second assembly of the folding machine of FIG. one.

In FIG. 11 is a side view, partially cut away and on an enlarged scale, of a third unit of the folding machine of FIG. 1, in the cutting operating position shown in FIG. 9.

In FIG. 12 the third assembly shown in FIG. 11 is a sectional view along XII-XII.

In FIG. 13 the third node shown in FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view along XIII-XIII.

Detailed description of an embodiment of the invention

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 shows a machine 10 according to the invention, which enables folding and stacking with the accordion of a strip 11 (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 3) equipped with notches for folding and made of material, for example, cardboard, having a thickness in the range from about 3 mm to approximately 8 mm and, therefore, having sufficient rigidity, that is, this material is difficult to deform.

Mentioned strip 11 notched for folding can have a maximum width, for example, approximately 3,000 mm, and provided with transverse notches 12 made at a certain interval or pitch P (see FIG. 4), which can be predefined, and the value of which is presumably in a range from about 600 mm to about 2500 mm. In the illustrative embodiment of the invention described herein, said pitch P is 1150 mm, which is one of the standard sizes in the packaging industry.

The machine 10 comprises a fixed metal structure or frame 13 (see Fig. 1), in the upper part of which a feeding unit 15 is installed, which enables continuous supply of strip 11 with notches for folding, which comes, for example, directly from a production plant of a known type (not shown) with a certain very high feed rate V, which can be more than 3.3 m / s, i.e. more than 200 m / min. In particular, said feed unit 15 comprises in its final part a plurality of feed rolls 16 and a ridge-shaped end slider 18, which is inclined downward by an angle a (see FIG. 2), which is adjustable in the range from about 9 ° to about 20 ° relative to horizontal plane and sets the feed direction provided with notched for bending strip 11.

Behind the feed assembly 15, a folding device 20 is located (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 2), allowing folding with an accordion equipped with notches for bending the strip 11 along the transverse notches 12 (see FIG. 3). Folding device 20, the detailed description of which will be given below, is similar to that described in the aforementioned Italian patent for invention No. 1374280, which is fully incorporated into the present application by reference, but contains new and original technical features, which will be explained below, due to which in an unobvious way the technical problems of the known machine are solved.

Below the folding device 20, a storage device 50 is located (see FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 10), allowing vertical notched folding of a band 11 folded into an accordion for stacking and obtaining a continuous stack or stacks of a certain height, for example, a component in the range from 1000 mm to 1200 mm. The storage device 50 will also be described in detail below.

Folding device 20 (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3) contains four parallel pairs of main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the same length, located crosswise, which are attached to the Central shaft 25, when the machine rotates clockwise arrow, that is, in accordance with the feed direction of the notched for bending strip 11, relative to the axis of rotation Z using the first electric motor 30, which is mounted on the frame 13.

At the peripheral end of each pair of main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24 inside the area swept by them, a parallel pair of auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34 are rotatably mounted, respectively, the length of which is less than the length of the main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24, and which are arranged to rotate in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the main rods, i.e. counterclockwise.

Between the peripheral ends of each of the four pairs of auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34, a corresponding folding rod 41, 42, 43, 44 is installed parallel to said axis of rotation Z and, therefore, oriented transversely with respect to the feed direction of the notched strip 11.

The radius R1 (see Fig. 2) of rotation of the main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24, measured between said central axis of rotation Z and each of the axis of rotation 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34, essentially equal to the mentioned step P or slightly less than the last (for example, it may be 1130 mm). In addition, the peripheral speed of the aforementioned axes 26, 27, 28 and 29 is proportional to the advancement speed V provided with notches for bending the strip 11 and, in the present embodiment, it may be slightly less than the latter, for example, it may be 20% (one fifth) less than the advance speed V of the strip 11. As for the radius R2 of rotation of the auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34, it is less than half of the radius R1 and in the present embodiment is approximately 430 mm.

Auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34 receive movement from the rotation of the main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24 through a pair of roller chains 36 and 37 interacting with the corresponding two pairs of fixed gears 38 and 39 mounted on an axis coinciding with the central the axis of rotation Z. The gear ratio between the aforementioned pairs of fixed gears 38 and 39 and the gears mounted on the axes 26, 27, 28 and 29 is 2: 1, that is, each pair of auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34 makes two complete revolutions around the corresponding axis 26, 27, 28 and 29, when the main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24 make one complete revolution around the central axis of rotation Z. With this solution, each of the four folding bars 41, 42, 43 and 44 describes a substantially elliptical space the trajectory of T. It seems to provide an advantage such a solution in which the large geometric axis X of this ellipse is oriented horizontally or almost horizontally, and its small geometric axis Y is oriented vertically or almost vertically.

The lower end of the end slider 18 mentioned above occupies a position very close to the fourth quadrant of the elliptical trajectory T and almost touches the latter, so that the feed direction of the notched for bending strip 11 intersects the elliptical trajectory T exactly in the fourth quadrant of the latter.

Due to the ratio of the sizes of the rotation radius R1 of the main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24 and the rotation radius R2 of the auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34, as well as the peripheral speeds of their peripheral parts, for each of the four folding rods 41, 42, 43 and 44 it is possible to intercept the notched for bending strip 11 on each of its second notch 12 for folding, that is, every two steps P. With this solution, for each of the four folding bars 41, 42, 43 and 44, it is possible to bend the notched for bending of the strips 11, when pushing it outwardly along the notches 12 through one, while the strip 11 itself equipped with notches for folding is folded when the folding rods 41, 42, 43 and 44 undergo inward folding along the notches 12 located between those notches 12 that are in contact with each of the folding rods 41, 42, 43 and 44. Consequently, it is possible to fold the strip 11 provided with notches for folding in alternating directions, that is, folding the accordion.

It should be noted that, according to one of the innovative features of the present invention, to ensure a reliable and continuous process of folding with an accordion, even a very wide strip with notches for bending (its width can exceed 3 m) even at high speed (more than 3 m / s) of essential and decisive importance is the synchronization of the movement of the main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24 relative to the movement of the auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34. With this synchronization, a position is provided in which two opposite folding cantilever rods, for example, folding rods 42 and 44, should be located on the large geometric axis X of the elliptical trajectory T and face outward when the corresponding main rods, for example opposite main rods 22 and 24, and opposite auxiliary rods, for example auxiliary rods 32 and 34, are also in line with the aforementioned large geometric axis X of the elliptical trajectory T, then the other two folding rods, for example folding rods 41 and 43, at this very time should be on a small the Y axis of the elliptical trajectory T and be turned inward when the corresponding opposite main rods, for example the main rods 21 and 23, and the opposing auxiliary rods, for example the auxiliary rods 31 and 33, are also in line with the said small geometric axis Y of the elliptical trajectory T .

In the accompanying drawings of FIG. 3 of FIG. 8 illustrates the various stages of operation of the folding device 20, which will be described in detail below.

The storage device 50 (see Fig. 1) contains a horizontal support platform 51, which is arranged to move under the action of the second electric motor 55, in the vertical direction between two enclosing vertical sides 52 and 53 (see Fig. 10) of a fixed structure or frame 13, with which the stacking chamber 54 is formed.

The vertical axis W passing through the center of said stacking chamber 54 defines a stacking axis for the storage device 50 and intersects the path T in the second quadrant of the ellipse formed by it, which is located opposite its fourth quadrant relative to the central Z axis of the folding device 20.

On the said horizontal support platform 51, a conveyor belt 56 (see FIG. 1), for example, of a roller type, is arranged to hold on it the resulting folding device 20 over a strip 11 of a stack or stack equipped with notched for folding.

Said conveyor belt 56 is optionally driven by a third electric motor 57, providing lateral unloading of a stack or stack obtained from notched strip 11 for folding by folding with an accordion when the horizontal supporting platform 51 (shown in broken line in FIG. 10) is in its lowest position.

In addition, the storage device 50 also contains in its upper part two side walls 58 and 59 (see Fig. 10), which are located opposite each other on those sides where the notches 12 of the strip 11 are located when the latter is folded with an accordion. A motorized mechanism 60 is coupled to each of the two side walls 58 and 59 mentioned, allowing them to oscillate with respect to the respective horizontal axes 61.

It is also envisaged to have three pneumatic ejector units 62 (see FIG. 2) of a known type, not described in detail here, one of which is located above the folding device 20 at a distance of approximately 50 cm from the first quadrant of the ellipse formed by the trajectory T, another one of the mentioned pneumatic the ejector units are located inside the interceptor element 65, and another one is located inside the side wall 59 of the storage device 50. The three pneumatic ejector units 62 are configured to work in pulsed operation, synchronizing with the angular position of the folding device 20, to facilitate folding and stacking provided with notches for folding the strip 11.

Between the folding device 20 and the storage device 50 in the machine 10, an intercepting element 65 is provided (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 3), formed by a sequence of parallel rods, configured to act as an initial launch plane for the notched strip 11 for bending and with the possibility the movement between its first operating position, which is shown in FIG. 2 and in which it is located essentially between the folding device 20 and the storage device 50 for intercepting the “head” of the strip 11, which comes from the feed unit 15, and its second working position, which is shown in FIG. 3, in which it is shifted to one side and is in an almost vertical position in order to avoid interaction with the notched strip 11 for bending.

In particular, said interceptor element 65 is attached to an arch-type structure 66 that is slidably movable on rolls 68 that are rotatably mounted on the aforementioned fixed structure or frame 13 and are driven by a pair of hydrodynamic pistons 69.

Between the intercepting member 65 and the storage device 50, there is a horizontal ridge-shaped support 70 configured to provide temporary support for the stack obtained by folding the notched strip 11 for folding, at the stage of removing the stack that was obtained in the storage device 50 before.

In particular, said comb-shaped horizontal support 70 is movable in a horizontal plane under the action of the first advancement mechanism 71 driven by the fourth electric motor 72 between the extended position (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 3) and the retracted position (see Fig. 10), and in the vertical direction under the action of the second advancement mechanism 73, driven by the fifth electric motor 75, between the raised position and the lowered position (both shown in Fig. 10 dotted m). The design of the mentioned promotion mechanisms 71 and 73 is not difficult for specialists to understand the corresponding profile and is not described in detail here.

The folding machine 10 also includes a cutting device 80 (see FIG. 10), which is located under the folding device 20 and above the collecting device 50 and is intended for selective cutting of the strip 11 provided with notches for folding, for example, when obtained in the collecting device 50 in As a result of its folding with an accordion, the stack reaches the desired height.

In this embodiment, the cutting device 80 (see Fig. 11) contains two horizontal overlaps 81 and 82, which are located opposite each other and have wedge-shaped ends slightly offset from each other, and each of them is made with the possibility of movement between the open position (see the accompanying drawings from Fig. 3 to Fig. 8), in which the overlaps are separated from the area of advancement of the strip 11, and the working position (see Fig. 9), in which they provide clamping provided with notched to bend the strip 11 to cut it tions under them.

In addition, the cutting device 80 includes a cutting unit 83, which is mounted on the lower part of the overlap 82 (see Fig. 2 on the right), which, in turn, contains a rotating knife 85 (see Fig. 11, Fig. 12 and Fig. .13) and a support roll 86 provided with a circumferential groove 88, into which the peripheral edge of said rotary knife 85 is partially immersed and which defines a pattern that facilitates cutting the notched strip 11 for bending.

The rotary knife 85 and the opposing roll 86 are rotatably mounted on a slider 89, which is slidable along the guide 90, which is attached to the overlap 82 in the direction transverse to the feed direction of the notched strip 11, that is, in the direction shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 by arrow A. Slider 89 progressively moves from a side inactive position (see FIG. 12) outside the array of notched for bending strip 11 to the opposite working end and after crossing the notched for bending strip 11, cutting it along its entire width, it is sent back, and this movement of the slider 89 is provided from the sixth electric motor 91 using the drive belt 92. On the other hand, the rotation of the rotary knife 85 is brought about by the same translational movement slider 89 with a toothed belt 93, the heads of which are attached to the overlap 82 and are engaged with the gear wheel 95 (see Fig. 5), which is rotatably mounted on the slider 89 on the same axis and as a unit with a rotating knife 85. There are also two small-sized rolls 96, which are also rotatably mounted on a slider 89 and are located on the sides of said gear 95 parallel to it and interact with the back of said gear belt 93, thereby providing om the last engagement with the gear wheel 95.

Folding machine 10 described above operates as follows.

First of all, it should be noted that for the correct functioning of the folding machine 10, both the synchronization of the angular velocity of the main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the folding device 20 with the speed of advancement of the notched bends for the strip 11 is important, as well as the angular time coordination of the mentioned main rods 21, 22, 23 and 24 with the position of the transverse notches 14, carried out during the process behind the feed unit 15 using any known device that is not shown in the accompanying drawings, as well as mutual agreement Maintenance time between the main bars 21, 22, 23 and 24 on the one hand and the auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34 on the other hand, as described above.

When starting the folding process with the accordion of the strip 11 provided with notches for folding, the folding machine 10 is in the initial operating position, which is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, while the intercepting element 65 is in the working position for intercepting the head part of the strip 11 notched for folding, and therefore the access to the storage device 50 located below is closed, while the comb-shaped horizontal support 70 is in a high forward position, the overlap 81 ( see in Fig. 2 on the left) is extended, and the overlap 82 (see in Fig. 2 on the right) is retracted.

When the head of the notched bend strip 11 reaches the interceptor 65, the latter is moved to the inactive position by the hydrodynamic pistons 69, which corresponds to the first working folding position, which is shown in FIG. 3, and remains there until the folding process is completed. The overlap 81 is also retracted, while the horizontal support 70, when in the extended position, gradually begins to lower under the action of the second advancement mechanism 73 as the stacking (pre-stack) continues to be formed from the notched strip 11 for folding.

In this working folded position, the main rod 21 is inclined at an angle β, the magnitude of which is approximately 30 °, forward with respect to the small geometric axis Y of the elliptical trajectory T, while the corresponding folding rod 41 is ready to intercept the transverse notch 12, which comes from the end slide eighteen.

In the second working folding position (see FIG. 4), after turning the folding device 20 15 ° clockwise, that is, when the value of said angle β is approximately 15 ° forward with respect to the small geometric axis Y of the elliptical trajectory T, the folding the rod 41 has just come into contact with the strip 11 provided with notched for folding and begins to bend it upward along the corresponding transverse notch 12.

The folding device 20, which continues to rotate clockwise, leads the main rod 21, sequentially, first to the third working folding position (see Fig. 5), in which it is in line with the small geometric axis Y of the elliptical trajectory T, then in the fourth working folding position (see Fig. 6), in which the value of the mentioned angle β is approximately 15 ° backward with respect to the minor geometric axis Y of the trajectory T, then to the fifth working folding position (see Fig. 7), in which the narrow angle β is approximately 30 ° backward with respect to the minor geometric axis Y of the trajectory T, and then finally to the sixth working folding position (see FIG. 8), in which the value of said angle β is approximately 45 ° backward with respect to of the small geometric axis Y of the trajectory T. It should be noted that during the transition from the second working folded position of the main bar 21 to its sixth working folded position (see the accompanying drawings of FIG. 4 of FIG. 8) on the transverse notches 12 adjacent to the notch 12 intercepted by the folding rod 41, no element of the folding device 20 acts, and therefore, due to the specific movement of the auxiliary rods 31, 32, 33 and 34, the strip 11 provided with notches for folding is bent into in the opposite direction, thus fitting in accordion.

In the aforementioned sixth working folded position of the main rod 21, the adjacent main rod 24 is inclined 45 ° forward with respect to the small geometric axis Y of the elliptical trajectory T, being ready to intercept the notched strip 11 for bending near another transverse notch 12, after the next 15 ° turn when this main bar also comes to its first working folded position, as described above.

It should be noted that the speed of each of the folding bars 41, 42, 43 and 44 due to the nature of its movement, which is essentially satellite, varies relative to the notched for bending strip 11, so that in the first sector, which begins with the first working folding position (see FIG. 3) and ends after turning through 90 ° (the position in which the folding bar 42 is shown in FIG. 3), each folding bar 41, 42, 43, 44 rotates at a speed substantially equal to the speed V supplied notches for bending the strip 11, and then gradually decreases to zero when it is in its horizontal position between the first and second quadrants of the elliptical trajectory T. Then, the rotation speed of each folding rod 41, 42, 43, 44 gradually increases until it enters the third sector (180 ° apart from said first sector).

Thus, each folding rod 41, 42, 43, 44 comes into contact with the strip 11 provided with notches for bending along one of the transverse notches 12, accompanies it with the same speed V throughout the entire first sector, then its relative speed decreases and falls to zero, after which it again increases, allowing the strip equipped with notches for folding to fall, already folded, into a stack formed below.

As the strip 11 equipped with notches for folding is gradually folded with an accordion, forming a pre-stack on the horizontal support 70, the latter lowers, approaching the supporting platform 51, which was initially in the maximum raised position, which is shown by the dotted line in FIG. 10. Then, said horizontal support 70 is moved to the retracted position by means of the first advancement mechanism 71, with the newly formed pre-stack remaining on the support platform 51 below, which then moves downward to the lower position on the bottom of the storage device 50 shown in FIG. 10 solid lines. In the meantime, in order to facilitate the formation of the stack, motorized mechanisms 60 are actuated to allow the side walls 58 and 59 to oscillate relative to the horizontal axes 61.

Upon completion of the formation of the stack from the notched for bending strip 11, the latter is cut without stopping its progress towards the folding device 20, that is, the strip is cut in motion.

To this end, the two horizontal overlaps mentioned above are provided, arranged to move towards each other, which are brought into the working position of the cutting, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 11, so that the notched bend strip 11 is sandwiched between the wedge-shaped ends of the said overlap.

Then, a cutting device 80 is activated, and in particular an electric motor 91, which, through the drive belts 92, causes the slider 89 to translate in the direction transverse to the notched strip 11, which is thus held between the backup roll 86 and with a rotating knife 85 and is cut last in a few seconds. After making a complete movement outward and cutting the notched for bending strip 11, said slider 89 is held in position outside the transverse dimension of the notched for folding strip 11; then the horizontal overlaps 81 and 82 are retracted to the position shown in FIG. 3, in order to immediately enable normal advancement of the notched bend strip 11 towards the collecting device 50. After that, the slider 89 returns to its initial position (see FIG. 12), being outside the transverse dimension of the notched bend strip 11 during the entire time of the reverse movement.

Immediately upon completion of the cutting operation, the notched for bending strip 11 is driven by a conveyor belt 56 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 10) of the storage device 50 for unloading the stack onto a conveyor of a known type, which is not shown in the accompanying drawings. In the process of performing this unloading operation, the horizontal comb-like support 70 returns to its initial position upward with forward movement (see FIG. 3), that is, below the strip 11 that has just been cut and notched for folding, so that it is possible to repeat the cycle described above folding.

Immediately upon completion of the unloading operation of the stack using the conveyor belt 56, the horizontal support platform 51 returns to its elevated position, in which it is ready to take another pre-stack from the notched for bending strip 11, which in the meantime is formed on said comb-shaped horizontal support 70, thereby ensuring the continuity of the folding machine 10 without having to stop the folding device 20.

It should be understood that, without departing from the scope and scope of the invention, the folding machine 10 described above may be modified and / or additional components may be added to it.

It should also be understood that although the invention has been described with reference only to certain specific embodiments of the invention, a person skilled in the art should definitely be able to create many other equivalent forms of automated machines for folding accordions and stacking (stacking) strips made from a sufficiently rigid material (i.e., of a hardly deformed material) having the same characteristics as indicated in the claims I, and therefore all of them, are within the scope of protection defined by this claims.

Claims (11)

1. An automated machine for folding an accordion and stacking a strip (11) made of hard-to-deform material and provided with transverse notches (12) made at the same distance from each other, comprising feeding means (15) configured to supply said equipped with notches for folding strips (11) in a given direction of feeding to a folding device (20) of a rotating type, which is configured to fold it with an accordion and transport it to a storage device (50), at said folding device (20) contains four parallel pairs of main rods (21, 22, 23, 24) having the same length, located crosswise and made with the possibility of joint rotation in the direction consistent with the feed direction provided with notches for bending the strip (11) relative to the central axis of rotation (Z) perpendicular to this direction, four corresponding parallel pairs of auxiliary rods (31, 32, 33, 34) mounted on the peripheral ends of the said main rods (21, 22, 23, 24) inside the latter spaces rotatably in the opposite direction to the rotation direction of said main rods (21, 22, 23, 24), and four folding rods (41, 42, 43, 44) mounted rotatably at the peripheral ends of said auxiliary rods ( 31, 32, 33, 34), while each of the said folding rods (41, 42, 43, 44) is installed with the ability to describe essentially an elliptical trajectory (T) in space and with the ability to intercept the strip (11) notched for folding on every second notch e (12), characterized in that the major axis (X) of the ellipse of said path (T) is oriented essentially horizontally, and the central axis (W) of stacking related to said storage device (50) is oriented essentially vertically and parallel to the minor axis (Y) an ellipse of said path (T). 2. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said feeding means (15) comprises an end slider (18) located near said folding device (20), wherein the feeding direction of said notched strip for bending of the strip (11) intersects with said trajectory (T) in the fourth quadrant of the ellipse formed by it, and said storage means (50) is located in such a way that said central stacking axis (W) intersects with said trajectory (T) in the second quadrant of the ellipse formed by it, which minutes located opposite said fourth quadrant of the ellipse with respect to said central rotation axis (Z) of the folding device (20). 3. The machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the said storage means (50) comprises a horizontal support platform (51) made with the possibility of movement between two containing vertical sides (52, 53) forming a stacking chamber (54) through the center which passes said central axis (W). 4. The machine according to claim 3, characterized in that on said horizontal supporting platform (51), on which it is possible to place the stack formed from the notched for bending strip (11) as a result of folding by means of said folding device (20), a conveyor belt (56) is installed, made with the possibility of selectively bringing it into motion for lateral unloading of the said stack from the strip (11) provided with notches for folding, folded by an accordion, when said horizontal supporting latforma (51) is in the lower position. 5. Machine according to any one of paragraphs. 3 or 4, characterized in that said storage means (50) also contains, in the upper part of said stacking chamber (54), two side walls (58, 59) located opposite each other and on the side where said notches ( 12) strips (11), when the latter is folded into an accordion, while a motorized mechanism (60) is connected to each of the two side walls (58, 59), allowing them to oscillate relative to the corresponding horizontal axes (61). 6. Machine according to any one of paragraphs. 3 or 4, characterized in that a comb-shaped horizontal support (70) is located above said storage device (50), configured to provide temporary support for a starting stack from said strip (11) provided with notched for folding in the process of removing the stack formed before in said stacking chamber (54). 7. Machine according to claim 6, characterized in that said comb-shaped horizontal support (70) is configured to move both in the horizontal plane between the extended position and the retracted position, and in the vertical direction between the raised position and the lowered position. 8. Machine according to any one of paragraphs. 1-4 or 7, characterized in that between said folding device (20) and said storage means (50) there is an intercepting element (65) made with the possibility of movement between the first working position, in which it is provided with the ability to intercept the head part of said equipped with notched for bending the strip (11) coming from said supply means (15), and a second working position in which it does not interact with said notched for bending strip (11). 9. Machine according to any one of paragraphs. 1-4 or 7, characterized in that it further comprises a cutting device (80) located between said folding device (20) and said storage device (50) and configured to selectively cut said notched strip (11) for folding without the need to stop the operation of said folding device (20). 10. Machine according to claim 9, characterized in that the said cutting device (80) contains two horizontal overlaps (81, 82) located opposite each other, each of which is arranged to move between the open position in which they are allotted from the passage zone of said notched for bending strip (11), and the working position in which they provide the possibility of clamping said notched for folding strip (11), with the possibility of cutting it in motion using the cutter (83) installed on the lower part of one of the aforementioned horizontal overlaps (82). 11. The machine according to p. 10, characterized in that the said cutting unit (83) contains a rotating knife (85) and a backup roll (86), which are mounted on a slider (89), made with the possibility of selective movement in a direction transverse to the direction feeding said notched bend strip (11) to said storage means (50).

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